Cleaning, protecting and restoring teak
See our guide pages for:
- Acrylic (rigid plastic) - windows, washboards, hatches
- Aluminium or anodised aluminium
- Anti-slip areas
- Clear vinyl (flexible plastic) windows
- Fabrics - canopies awnings etc
- Fabrics - furnishing
- Fibreglass, grp, gel coat, polyester
- Leather
- Painted metal
- Painted wood
- PVC - fenders etc
- Stainless steel
- Teak - oiled or varnished
- Varnished wood
- Vinyl, pvc and vinyl coated fabrics
Teak weathers to an attractive grey, but dirt and pollutants discolour it. If you want to preserve the beautiful golden colour it must either be oiled or waxed.
Don’t scrub or pressure wash teak. This removes soft fibres from the wood and raises the grain.
Maintenance
Wash gently with Boatwash and a soft brush.
For oiled teak, apply fresh oil as required. Don't oil dirty teak, or the black stains will be sealed in.
Protection
Use teak sealer to seal in the oil of oiled teak. This seals in the oil and makes it last much longer.
Restoration
Use oxalic acid or teak restorer, or sand back to a new surface before oiling and sealing
Take great care to keep oxalic acid or teak cleaner off other surfaces.
To restore varnished teak, strip, sand and apply up to seven coats of new teak varnish.