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I have just finished rehabbing my gunnel caps and two louvered doors on my 1985 Outrage 18. They were pretty bad, but I was able to remove most of the oil spots and almost all of the black streaks using Starbrite cleaner and brightener on all pieces. I had a can of Watco Teak Oil, left over from the time I last had a teak trimmed boat (20 years ago). I tried the Watco oil on my port gunnel cap, and used some newly purchased Starbrite Teak Oil on the starboard cap. There's a world of difference in the results! The Watco oil is thick and, well, oily. The Starbrite oil is much less viscus, soaks in very quickly and cleans up more easily. Watco left my port cap very dark, like walnut. The Starbrite left my starboard cap the way I prefer - light honey toned.
I have one question and further would love for this to become a discussion of your experiences and preferences of teak oils.
My question: While the Watco oil seems to be an organic blend, is it possible that my very old oil decomposed a bit, outlived its shelf life, making it turn dark? I don't know if Watco oil is normally darker than others.
In advance, thanks for you comments.
It sounds like that Watco oil has gone bad and should be discarded.
After using any teak cleaner, preferably the one step variety and NEVER the two step, you have to sand, sand and sand, with an orbital sander, to get rid of the raised hard grain. One done, use the best quality teak oil you can buy. Avoid the cheap ones.
All teak oils have some percentage of varnish in them, with Daly's Sea Fin being the highest at 15%. Users say it is fairly long lasting, mostly because of the high varnish content. i have had good success with the Amazon brand (not related to THE huge Amazon operation)
All teak oils have a short life of looking good, unless the boat is stored indoors and out of the weather. Eventually the wood gets black streaks, looks dirty and you have to begin the cleaning, sanding and oiling process all over again. Which is why I switched to varnish 20 years ago. It is longer lasting and looks better for it's entire life. See my personal website link.
You are all probably aware that here is no such thing as ‘teak tree oil’ but as we all know there are many products being marketed as teak oil, all of which contain no oil from teak trees. I was a little upset with myself when I found out that the hard earned money I spent on teak oil was spent on a product that was most likely just mineral spirits and boiled linseed oil.
I think you can get very good results with varnish like Finnegan does that will seal/encapsulate the wood and offer very good protection.
I like to use 100% pure Tung oil cut with mineral spirits. It does not seal the wood like varnish does but I think pure Tung oil is pretty amazing an offers good protection. Pure Tung oil can be a little difficult to find locally but it can be ordered off the net. Do not use “Tung oil Finish” sold at the big home centers which is as misleading as Teak oil ! I also like to clean the teak with oxiclean.
I found the term "teak oil" a tough nut to crack. They like to keep the formula propitiatory. I have used both Watco Teak Oil (a linseed oil base) and Daley's Seafin Teak Oil (a tung oil base). Crazy how two totally different products use the same label. I originally went with Watco and would need to reapply during the year to keep the look (boat out in the sun). I then tried the Seafin oil. I had serious problems with the Seafin oil (you build it up in layers that harden) but is also remained porous. I live among the redwoods/firs and mildew spots got underneath the the barrier. It could have been operator error because I do not recall if I chlorinated the wood before hand. I did use the recommended cleaners and sanded. Had to strip to clean the spotting. My basic assessments of how the oils react:
Tung based: Wood kept original color and a shell (very difficult to remove) created with the build up of layers. Looked pretty sweet once finished and then the mildew issue.
Linseed based: Some very slight darkening of wood but when I got mildew spotting I just wiped it down with some chlorine/TSP mixture and all was well.
I am going with the Watco linseed oil base because the maintenance is no big deal to me and eliminating the mildew spots simple to correct. You do need to really shake the can before each use (I have a couple of 1/2 cans that I agitate and pour into each other). The pigments settle and the bottom of the can can become an ooze and I believe that the reason for the heavy darkening. I do not think the can went bad.....you just used up the thinning agents from the top half of the can.
If you have the patience to varnish and do it correctly the most lasting finish. Tung oil #2 for longevity (if not for the mildew I really liked the outcome) and linseed would need maintenance throughout.
