Teak Decks - How Should i Care For Them?

[RobinE]

Hi there, first post so apologies if it's in the wrong place.
I'm wondering what product to use on teak Decks on a 2008 Moody DS?

I'm pretty sure these decks are some form of laminate but still would like to get them looking great.

Thanks in advance.

[Dockhead]

They are most likely real teak. To care for them gently pour buckets of clean seawater over them as often as you can. Every day in harsh sunlight. That is almost all you have to do.

If they get dirty, wash them gently with Fairy liquid, washing always only across the grain, rinse with fresh water, then clean sea water.

If you start to get black fungus spots or green algae, treat them with Boracol -- follow the instructions.

NEVER let anyone get within a mile of your decks with a pressure washer -- they will be destroyed instantly. Teak consists of strips of hard material layered with strips of very soft pulp.

Likewise, never scrub with anything hard, never rub them with anything along the grain -- only across.

Never put any kind of oil on them or any "teak treatment".

Other than the above, you don't need to baby them -- shoes (deck shoes, anyway) are no problem; they will even recover from spills of dirty motor oil (don't ask me how I know). Just keep them clean and feed them the clean sea water which they love.

[nigel1]

Dockheads suggestion works well, if you able to chuck buckets of msea water over the deck on a frequent basis. I work maway for 5 week periods so that means it gets neglected for those 5 weeks. The boat also sits in a locked in marina, and I dont fancy chucking the contents of the Brunswick dock over my boat.
I'm in the process of the Borocal treatment whih will be followed by a few coats of tung oil. Its that, or puttting up with the black spots and the green algae/mildew

[Brob2]

Our English colleagues are on the mark. I sailed for many years on the Great Lakes of Canada where salt water was hard to find, and though fresh water rinses do help a bit I used a product called Dalys SeaFin Teak Oil. It's not well known but available on-line, and is well respected by some in the Lake Erie/Ontario boat maintenance community who turned me onto it.

I have seen more dumb things done with teak deck maintenance on boats that anything else, excluding those activities whose genesis involved rum. I say, if sailing on salt water, one should follow dockhead's (advice unless selling and sprucing up for appearance's sake). In fresh water or for the aforementioned pre-selling beautification program use Daly's, which can be ordered online, and recoat every few months. It's an easy job, looks great, and keeps the decks non-slip without affecting the durability of the decking.

Some folks believe that a real salt won't put a drop of oil on a teak deck and that those that who do are showing themselves as newbies or dandies, thus requiring one who does to endure the odd knowing dockside sneer from one of the 'experts'.

I applied it every year on Lake Ontario for 4 of the 5 years I lived there and regretted the one year I didn't do it. In the 10 years since returning to Halifax I haven't done it and the decks seem no worse for wear, but I do have to say if I were awash in cash I would pay someone to do it.

Just don't put something stupid like Cetol on it or you'll be watching the pretty transom of your C&C from the water as she sails away after the seasons first squall.

[FloridaWriter]

I would follow the Pardey's advice, which is to use only sea water to wash the raw teak, use no type of abrasive brush or pad, and use dish washing soap only. I would not use any sort of oil, teak oil or otherwise. All that will do is attract dirt and hold it in place.