Maintaining teak in the cabin

[nquigley]

Yesterday, I saw the nice job my dockmate, John Stone, was doing to maintain his E32-3's cabin teak. I've owned my boat for about 3 years and have never done anything to the teak. So today, I got carried away and oiled all the teak in the cabin ('Old English lemon oil' form Home Depot).
Man there's a lot of teak in these boats!
But, it looks really good now! John follows oiling with a liquid wax application to give it shine and to prevent dust clinging to the oiled surface - my task for next weekend.

Doing this job, and getting up close and personal with all the joinery has given me new appreciation for the quality of the fit and finish in our boats - they used solid teak or teak-veneered plywood in all sorts of out-of-the-way places that they could have used a cheaper solution.

Thank you, Bruce King!

 

[reflections]

teak waxs

We oil interior teak on our 32-200. What kind of liquid wax do you intend on using? May try it this year.

 

[nquigley]

We oil interior teak on our 32-200. What kind of liquid wax do you intend on using? May try it this year.

I used Old English lemon oil for the first coat - added good depth of color to all interior woodwork without making it any darker (saloon is 'dark' enough as it is with all that wood paneling.

I tried Amish Wood Milk in a small test area as a 'polish' layer on top, trying to add shine and perhaps reduce dust cling, but I don't think it did what I was looking for. I ordered some Howard Feed-N-Wax Orange Oil polish - will try it this weekend.
Neil

 

[paul culver]

I have been using Murphy's oil soap for occasional cleaning.

Paul
E29 "Bear"

 

[K2MSmith]

The previous owner of my boat left a half empty bottle of Weinman Lemon Oil ("with UV protection") on the boat in a bag with an old oily rag. The wood looked really dry, so assuming this was the right stuff to use, I spent about an hour or two oiling most of the interior wood. I would say it looks pretty good but it does naturally turn the wood a slightly darker shade - but isn't that desirable ? - you do want to have some visible change to show your efforts .
After I came home, my wife, who is much more environmental health conscious than I am said that the Lemon oil is basically solvent, not the greatest stuff to have floating around in an enclosed space (along with diesel smell and other solvents). I put a HEPA filter on the boat which runs off the the shore AC power, so this will probably help filter some of that.

My wife also gave me a bottle of "Howard Feed-N-Wax Wood Polish and Conditioner" to try . It has orange and Bee's wax in it, but on the label I see that it contains petroleum - so it also has a solvent in it. Can't really get a way from the chemicals... I am going to try this stuff on the areas that I misssed.

 

[Geoff W.]

Definitely interested in hearing peoples' interior varnish alternatives. A bunch of my teak has gotten sun-discolored and water-discolored in spots over time, so I was considering doing a Te-ka wipedown and deep cleaning before re-oiling everything. Only real concerns are about what that'll do to the color overall.

I have a bunch of Seafin Teak Oil I was planning to use after the fact. If you build it up to the point where most of it lies on top rather than getting absorbed, you can get a passably glossy finish, sometimes.

 

[Bob Robertson]

My wife and I have been using a product called AulWood Multi-purpose Wood Cleaner & Polish for the interior teak for a number of years. It's excellent, it's really easy to work with and it looks great.

It's not always easy to find. We buy it at a paint shop near us. You can also buy it online.

 

[Christian Williams]

It's either/or with interior varnish or wax (someday, old wax needs to be stripped). I stick with satin varnish below. The golden color seems to return any whitish areas to normal without much prep at all.

 

[Filkee]

I do a partial refresh of my interior varnish almost every year because I'm an idiot. Maybe not every surface, but I take a lap with Epifanes matt and usually take a couple of drawers or cabinet faces home each winter to work on.

 

[CSMcKillip]

It's either/or with interior varnish or wax (someday, old wax needs to be stripped). I stick with satin varnish below. The golden color seems to return any whitish areas to normal without much prep at all.

Can you post up some photos? I am really leaning towards using varnish on our interior. Two years ago I spent a good 2 days cleaning all of the teak and then using a teak oil - what I have found is that the teak oil - if I rub my hand over the teak leaves a blackish type film on my hand - Im leaning on sealing it all.....

 

[Christian Williams]

I use Interlux Goldspar Satin Sheen polyurethane varnish for bulkheads and such inside the boat. It's very forgiving and prep is only a scrub with a 3M pad or a few swipes with 320 grit.

For the sole, and for a few surfaces that get grabbed or rubbed against, I use exterior varnish, Interlux Schooner traditional high gloss.

Not sure if the difference will show. I refinish the sole every two years, the satin really needs no maintenance at all.

Satin:


High gloss sole, ladder, rails.

 

[mjsouleman]

I have been using a teak oil for Discovery every winter. this gives it time to off gas. With your thoughts, I will put varnishing on my list for some weekend anchoring.

Mark "Souleman" Soule

 

[Loren Beach]

O34 - Another Fall, Another Bulkhead

Since we refinished the forward bulkhead last spring, it's time to start on the last major (and readily visible) teak-face bulkhead. This is the Aft one, facing into the main cabin. It has old screw holes which need to be teak-plugged, and is...

ericsonyachts.org

We are about done with a multi-year project to varnish out the interior. Last major area for this year is panels/bulkheads in the aft cabin. And then some trims in the head.
We still like the lighter 'natural' look of the teak with no stain color in it.
I do like the look of the interior of Chriatian's boat.

 

[bsangs]

Realize this is an old thread I'm reviving, but was wondering what's the best way to clean interior varnished teak? The conflicting information I've found on the inter webs has made my head spin. Christian, since your boat photos features heavily here, what do you use? Would like to give our varnished interior teak a good cleaning before winter.

 

[Christian Williams]

No mysteries. Ericson used satin varnish inside on this boat and the former owners headed off the usual leaks. In areas where the satin varnish has suffered over time I sanded very lightly and touched up with Interlux satin. I've never had to clean the interior, perhaps because of our condensation-free environment in LA.

I am a big fan of high gloss Interlux Schooner varnish on the sole. It loses its shine after a year of hard use, but never its protection. It is not slippery, in fact it squeaks underfoot when new. I use high gloss on a few other "grabby" areas, which protects them and also catches the eye.

There is so much lovely wood on many Ericson models that we can get away with painting areas where leaks have destroyed the veneer. I painted the entire portlights zone on the 32-3 with Hatteras Off White, which was a near perfect match for the headliner color. Paint can save us when the veneer is discolored.

Regarding all the high emotion about this stuff on the Internet, there's obviously to right or wrong. I just painted 300 feet of baseboards in my house, after the hardwood floor resurfacing dinged them all. A horrible job of Frog tape exactitude. I had to do it because despite all the gleaming new hardwood of the floors, the slight imperfection of the old baseboards were all that my wife could see. And she was right.

Point is, if any, that to make a cabin look good everything has to be attended to to achieve the overall effect. I think all the brand new lighting fixtures I installed did more for my cabin's "look" than anything else. You don't notice them as a factor, but they are. The eye lights upon imperfections and sends the brain message: meh.

(I now see that I have answered several questions nobody asked and repeated my own message above. Oh well...)

 

[bsangs]

Regarding all the high emotion about this stuff on the Internet, there's obviously to right or wrong. I just painted 300 feet of baseboards in my house, after the hardwood floor resurfacing dinged them all. A horrible job of Frog tape exactitude. I had to do it because despite all the gleaming new hardwood of the floors, the slight imperfection of the old baseboards were all that my wife could see. And she was right.

That is too funny. Literally just did the exact same thing back in early April after our floors were refinished, and because my wife said so. Was the last home project before all my efforts went into working on our "new" boat.

 

[Peter B]

Most anything from mineral oil to motor oil works to clean and hydrate interior teakwood. Some might say "bad advice" but most wood cleaners/oils work well.

 

[bsangs]

Most anything from mineral oil to motor oil works to clean and hydrate interior teakwood. Some might say "bad advice" but most wood cleaners/oils work well.

Even when varnished?

 

[Christian Williams]

Not for varnish, which seals the surface.

 

[bsangs]

Not for varnish, which seals the surface.

OK, that’s what I thought. Was specifically asking about cleaning varnished interior teak. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.