Teak advice

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by leefromcanada

I need to freshen up my interior cabin teak. no need for a complete redo as the wood is in very good shape for a 1987 Mirage 29. what should I use? Teak Oil with a cloth? furniture polish with a cloth? other? thanks.

Lee, what did you end up doing with your interior and how did it turn out? There seems to be so many opinions (surprise!) and I'm pretty sure I have an oiled interior, too. I have pulled all the portlights because they have been leaking. Whoever cut the openings made them all about 1/8" too big all around. On another portlight that has already been repaired, I sanded lightly and oiled it, but it remains discolored. Did I just need to oil more? I have bought a stain that closely matches so was thinking of staining first and then oiling. Thoughts? Attached is a picture of the worse area, but the window on the right also shows some mold in the wood that I still need to clean.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Lee, what did you end up doing with your interior and how did it turn out? There seems to be so many opinions (surprise!) and I'm pretty sure I have an oiled interior, too. I have pulled all the portlights because they have been leaking. Whoever cut the openings made them all about 1/8" too big all around. On another portlight that has already been repaired, I sanded lightly and oiled it, but it remains discolored. Did I just need to oil more? I have bought a stain that closely matches so was thinking of staining first and then oiling. Thoughts? Attached is a picture of the worse area, but the window on the right also shows some mold in the wood that I still need to clean.

Do you have rings that go back on there? It is a strange portlight installation... with the portlites recessed. Often they cover the edge of the interior plywood you show and are thru bolted thru everything...?
You wood looks pretty good, but yeah some stain where there were rings and below. I wonder if you could hand wipe stain on the whole plywood panel, then varnish over that to get them back to a uniform color?

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Do you have rings that go back on there? It is a strange portlight installation... with the portlites recessed. Often they cover the edge of the interior plywood you show and are thru bolted thru everything...?

Oh! I should have mentioned that the portlights have not been rebedded or re-installed yet. The opening on the left one, has just been built up with an 1/8" bead of epoxy around the bottom of the wood (you might be able to see the white) but there's still a few gaps left to do. I had just plunked the windows back in and threw a tarp over so it wouldn't be so cold as it's taking me some time to clean up all the old adhesive and gobs of silicone.

Originally Posted by Cheechako

You wood looks pretty good, but yeah some stain where there were rings and below. I wonder if you could hand wipe stain on the whole plywood panel, then varnish over that to get them back to a uniform color?

That was my idea about wiping on some stain and then oiling it (not varnish). I don't think my interior is varnish and I'd rather keep it oiled. Just wasn't sure if I'd really be able to get it back to a uniform color if I didn't match the stain exactly.

[Cheechako]

I have used the "wipe stain and refinish" to repair broken guitars to pretty good effect. The nice thing about wiping thin layers of stain is you can gradually get the color or effect you want. I have even used different colors of stain over each other to get the effect.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Attached is a picture of the worse area, but the window on the right also shows some mold in the wood that I still need to clean.

If you don't mind my asking, how were you planning on cleaning the mold? I have the same problem in a couple of spots on my interior teak as well, and I've tried a number of remedies, all to no avail.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Exile

If you don't mind my asking, how were you planning on cleaning the mold? I have the same problem in a couple of spots on my interior teak as well, and I've tried a number of remedies, all to no avail.

I assume you tried sanding it out? On the other side of that window that you can't see in the picture is an area that I've sanded down to remove the mold stain, which seems to have worked, perhaps because the mold stain is superficial and hasn't gone any deeper. If this is not the case and it comes back up, I'm thinking I'd use borax or something for killing mold spores in wood. My understanding is that you have to remove the elements for mold to grow (food, moisture, warmth) before you can ever have any chance of getting rid of it. Wood, because it provides a food source, is particularly hard.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I assume you tried sanding it out? On the other side of that window that you can't see in the picture is an area that I've sanded down to remove the mold stain, which seems to have worked, perhaps because the mold stain is superficial and hasn't gone any deeper. If this is not the case and it comes back up, I'm thinking I'd use borax or something for killing mold spores in wood. My understanding is that you have to remove the elements for mold to grow (food, moisture, warmth) before you can ever have any chance of getting rid of it. Wood, because it provides a food source, is particularly hard.

Yes, I have sanded, as much as I dare that is. It looks like a pretty thin veneer around the portholes and some other interior areas. Come to think of it, there's a good chance its marine ply vs. teak. If it's marine ply, once you sand through the first layer you're screwed it seems.

I've eliminated the moisture ingress at this point, and also probably long since killed the mold spores. But I've been told it's not unusual to have the dark staining remain. I've used wood bleach to prep some of the teak brightwork on deck before a first coat of varnish, but not sure I'd want to use something that aggressive down below.

If what you're working with on your boat is actually teak, then you should be OK sanding it off. With marine ply, however, the only option might be a cut & paste job.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Exile

If what you're working with on your boat is actually teak, then you should be OK sanding it off. With marine ply, however, the only option might be a cut & paste job.

Yes, the cabin sides appear to be at least 1/4" teak with another 1/4" epoxy layer for the outer shell. It would take a lot of sanding before I got into trouble.

[james247]

Originally Posted by Exile

If you don't mind my asking, how were you planning on cleaning the mold? I have the same problem in a couple of spots on my interior teak as well, and I've tried a number of remedies, all to no avail.

Tea tree oil will kill the mould. Don't use chlorine bleach. A furniture makers trick is to use steel wool as an abrazant. Lubricated with tee tree oil the new look of teak will reappear once the mouldy dirty old oil is removed.
Wipe off with thinners to remove the last of the old oil and start several say 6 lite Coates of the most expensive teak oil you can find.
For internal work there should be no uv filters in the oil. Be patient let it dry and apply another coat

[james247]

Originally Posted by james247

Tea tree oil will kill the mould. Don't use chlorine bleach. A furniture makers trick is to use steel wool as an abrazant. Lubricated with tee tree oil the new look of teak will reappear once the mouldy dirty old oil is removed.
Wipe off with thinners to remove the last of the old oil and start several say 6 lite Coates of the most expensive teak oil you can find.
For internal work there should be no uv filters in the oil. Be patient let it dry and apply another coat

You can polish the oil and teak between coats with a fine steel wool. Yes steel wool comes in grades. A mat or gloss finish can be obtained. After all what you are doing is furniture polishiig

[Exile]

Originally Posted by james247

Tea tree oil will kill the mould. Don't use chlorine bleach. A furniture makers trick is to use steel wool as an abrazant. Lubricated with tee tree oil the new look of teak will reappear once the mouldy dirty old oil is removed.
Wipe off with thinners to remove the last of the old oil and start several say 6 lite Coates of the most expensive teak oil you can find.
For internal work there should be no uv filters in the oil. Be patient let it dry and apply another coat

Originally Posted by james247

You can polish the oil and teak between coats with a fine steel wool. Yes steel wool comes in grades. A mat or gloss finish can be obtained. After all what you are doing is furniture polishiig

Interesting tip. I've used tea tree oil for mold/mildew on my boat for years and believe it is effective, albeit quite expensive. I've also used 000 or even 0000 grade steel wool for building up coats of finish (usually tung oil) on furniture. But never thought about combining tea tree oil & fine steel wool to potentially remove old staining from mold.

Also didn't think that the staining might actually reside in the oil as opposed to the wood. In the case of my boat, the interior is finished with varnish rather than oil (afaik), so not sure there's anything actually penetrating the wood. In any event, your idea is worth a try, thanks.

[gamayun]

I like the idea of using tea tree oil & fine steel wool. I just finished one of the portlights today. I used the stain that I had tried to match as close as possible to my existing color. At first, I was completely freaked out when it darkened to almost black. It seems the area with the water damage soaked in the stain more thoroughly than the surrounding area. I thought I might have created more work for myself, but after a light sanding, more stain, and time, it seems to have settled in. I'll oil everything once I get the two other deadlights done. Take a look at the before picture (in an earlier post) and this one. Oh, can anyone tell me if this is a Bomar portlight and where I can replacements for two of the dogs?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I like the idea of using tea tree oil & fine steel wool. I just finished one of the portlights today. I used the stain that I had tried to match as close as possible to my existing color. At first, I was completely freaked out when it darkened to almost black. It seems the area with the water damage soaked in the stain more thoroughly than the surrounding area. I thought I might have created more work for myself, but after a light sanding, more stain, and time, it seems to have settled in. I'll oil everything once I get the two other deadlights done. Take a look at the before picture (in an earlier post) and this one. Oh, can anyone tell me if this is a Bomar portlight and where I can replacements for two of the dogs?

Attachment 159436

Lookin good!

[Exile]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I like the idea of using tea tree oil & fine steel wool. I just finished one of the portlights today. I used the stain that I had tried to match as close as possible to my existing color. At first, I was completely freaked out when it darkened to almost black. It seems the area with the water damage soaked in the stain more thoroughly than the surrounding area. I thought I might have created more work for myself, but after a light sanding, more stain, and time, it seems to have settled in. I'll oil everything once I get the two other deadlights done. Take a look at the before picture (in an earlier post) and this one. Oh, can anyone tell me if this is a Bomar portlight and where I can replacements for two of the dogs?

Attachment 159436

Very nice! Mine didn't come out nearly as uniform, but some of my surrounding wood was probably more deteriorated, as well as being marine ply vs. teak. That's my excuse anyway . . . might also have something to do with my (low) level of patience dealing with these more delicate types of onboard tasks.

Your portlight looks very similar to the ones on my 1986 Bristol, which are Bomar "extruded aluminum" models. One obvious difference, however, is that mine have the threaded screw-in type of dogs. I contacted Bomar (now part of Pompanette) a few years ago and, while my model had been discontinued, they still appeared on their website. Now I don't see them, but you might want to contact them directly. Here's what looks like the possible successor to mine if that helps:

Extruded Portlight - Pompanette, LLC

Believe it or not, I've also occasionally run across Bomar dogs and other sundry Bomar items at West Marine, but it seems hit or miss.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Lookin good!

Thanks, Cheechako! I was quite proud of it. The next rain storm will be the true test.