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I Know that there is a ton of posts on wood maintenance but I'm torn on where to go with my new-to-me boats interior wood. The PO says he used teak oil a couple of times and wasn't happy with results. To me it almost has the color of Cetol with no gloss and little grain showing. I would prefer a highgloss look. Should I try and improve what I have or strip and start over. The finish now doesn't appear dirty or oxidized, just unappealling. Would more oil and buffing or rubbing improve the existing finish? Any thoughts?
Interiors are generally very thin veneer that will not stand up to sanding.
Suggest you find a small piece hidden from view and try a furniture stripper..and if that works you can stain and/or varnish (suggest polyurethane varnish for interior.)Have fun!
On Sail-La-Vie, the previous owner applied multiple coats of linseed oil as a finish. Looks ok, but never seems to dry, and always feels tacky to the touch. To make matters worse, in the hot humid summer weather, the finish supports mildew growth. I've been wiping down the surfaces with acetone, and it seems to remove the tacky gloss, so it's OK for now.
Longer term, I'd like to finish over with the new clear cetol gloss. I think it would look good, plus it wouldn't feel tacky or promote mildew. I'm not sure how to prep the surface though... I'm thinking that I'll keep up the acetone wiping for a while, cause I'm not looking forward to using any two part cleaners or lots of rinsing chemicals inside the boat. The wood is a bit dark, but without more chemicals to bleach the surface, I may just need to live with it...
Larry
If the PO only put oil on it a "couple of times", you're probably in luck. IMHO oil is a waste of time & money, but there are probably those who swear by it. On both our Sabres, the interiors were unfinished, so we finished the interior with Minwax Satin wipe on poly. We only used high gloss on trim because high gloss tends to show every imperfection. Our interiors now glow and are so much easier to keep clean.
On our current boat, there was 24 years of accumulated dirt in high traffic areas so we needed to clean the wood and get the dirt and oil off first. I used a green 3M abrasive pad soaked in acetone. I rubbed the teak with the grain and the acetone acted as a cleaner and the pad was mildly abrasive. Be very careful with the acetone because it will tend to drip all over the place (put a plastic tablecloth or tarp on the floor). If you don't use the acetone, the oil in the teak or the old finish will probably cause the new poly to fail to adhere or dry.
After the acetone cleaning, there will probably be swirls on the wood. Don't worry. Use 220 grit sandpaper to clean it up. This can be done with a random orbit sander or by hand. You don't need to sand heavily.
Apply the finish with a rag. The first couple of coats won't look great, but by the third you should see good results. Apply at least 4 coats (6 is better). Try all this on a small obscure area first to test for adhesion and suitability. Due to the amount of interior teak, I refinished in sections (head, V Berth, Galley, etc.). This approach was more manageable and didn't take the boat out of commission for a long period of time.
Hey Cam, Sail 38,
I think I will start by wiping with TSP which should tell me if it is in fact teak oil. I can see in places where it landed on fiberglass surfaces and it looks more like varnish or the Cetol I've seen on wood siding. I would be ok with oil if I can get a shine out of what is there but if I have to remove it, I will go with the polyurethane or similar. Sail 38, most posts don't recomend Cetol on interior wood.
Cam, that's the finish I'm after, your interior looks great. Just trying to figure out the best way to get there. Is that helmsman on the trim as well? I noticed today in the store that the helmsman can has a sticker on the top "improved formula" and 25% faster drying. Is that the formula you had?
US, you should have told me sooner. I could have detoured the delivery truck out of Annapolis before it got to Killarney with the boat. Would the same go for rigging, compounding, sanding, fixing, cleaning etc., etc., etc., my elbows have run out of grease. Where did I leave that bottle of rum anyway.
Actually everything else was factory done with standard varnish posts and grab rails are high gloss and flat surfaces are satin finish. The helmsman I used was not quick drying... and actually that may be a nice improvement since I had to wait quite a while till it hardended enough for sanding.
Minwax has satin wipe on poly and wipe on high gloss poly. I used the high gloss on the trim. You can see a little of it in the following link. Sorry, I haven't taken photos of the entire interior yet. I didn't think that Helmsman was necessary because spar varnish (even the poly kind) has high UV inhibitors and is generally more flexible than a standard varnish. It's mostly intended for exterior work and I thought that it would be overkill for the interior trim. That said, it's a great finish and I did use it on my galley table with great results.
Overnight is a good rule. I've pushed it to 2-3 hours between coats when the humidity is low. I got into the habit of applying finish before I was leaving the boat for the weekend. The only deviation was when I finished the last section, the galley area, this spring. By the time I got to one end, the other was tacky or nearly dry so I put on another. There are 6 coats in the galley area.
I wouldn't generally push a finish this hard with the furniture that I build (see the site that I linked to earlier in this thread). However, since it's Wipe-on poly, it's pretty thin so there isn't as much a chance that the underlying coat fails to dry before the top coat. The results are excellent and since it's satin finish, imperfections are less noticeable.
I did my interior last year with Minwax Helmsman high gloss. It came out pretty well. I thinned it about 25% with mineral spirits and put on 4 thin coats. It dried in 3-4 hours in 80 degree temperatures.
Thanks all for the pointers on poly and urethane. O.K. all you oilers, do I have any options with the oil that is now on there that will improve it or get some gloss out of it. Like I said previously it isn't dark or oxidized just not attractive. If not, looks like I'll have to strip it. A guy will do what ever it takes to have GOOD WOOD
I've used teak oil on my interior wood for the last 18 years. It gets an annual cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap and then a light coat of oil rubbed in. Takes about 3-4 hours total time each spring. The wood has a nice low gloss and I've had no mildew problems. I considered varnishing the interior but the amount of work - intial and maintenance has scared me off. I'm happy with the oiled look.
I've been using tung oil on my interior teak. I begin by applying a mixture of 75% detergent and 25% bleach, boosted with a few splashes of TSP to the teak. This mixture does a good job of cleaning and lightening the teak.
Next, I brush on three coats of tung oil to restore the grain patterns and protect the wood. Supposedly tung oil will not darken the teak the way linseed oil will. However, both oils need to be reapplied periodically to maintain the look and protection.
Varnish gives a much glossier look and probably protects the wood better. However, it's also more expensive and more labor intensive to apply.
I'm happy with Minwax Tung Oil. Cleaned all the teak with straight up ammonia in a spray bottle and lots of rags...then wiped two coats of Minwax on. Sealing the pours and giving it just a bit of sheen.
Good wood Billangiep, will it stay looking that good for long?
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