Cetol gloss

Aug 10, 2020
511
Catalina C25 3559 Rocky Mount
I have been refinishing my teak using cetol. I have read different things regarding the use of the cetol gloss on the last 2 coats. Is it necessary? I have 3-4 coat on everything already. I like the satin/gentle gloss finish it already has. Will I be missing out on UV protection? Will it affect it's long term durability greatly?

Thanks in advance!
 
Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
I like the satin/gentle gloss finish it already has. Will I be missing out on UV protection? Will it affect it's long term durability greatly?

Thanks in advance!
Part of your question is answered by your "like" of the current finished look. Personally, I did not like the gloss Cetol finish on a boat we worked on many years ago. Are more coats related to more UV protection? Are more coats related to longer time between touch up and refinishing? "Mongo not know. Only pawn in game of Life!"
 
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Jul 26, 2009
291
. . .
The aesthetics are subjective, and I would fall on the other side of 31seahorse. I personally prefer the look of 3-5 coats of gloss over 3-4 coats of the Natural Teak (# of coats dependent on imperfections and the amount of sanding between coats). To my eye the gloss adds depth and an illusion of clarity. It can't hold a candle to a good varnish job, but for my skill set, Cetol is a much more forgiving application and sets the bright work off differently than the base coat alone.

From a utility standpoint, the gloss finish provides some differences (in my limited experience). When last refinishing our bright work, I finished a single coaming with 3 coats of the natural plus 4 coats of clear gloss and the other coaming with just 3 coats of natural teak. I found the gloss "smoothed" the finish out and repelled water/dirt better, while also curing to a harder surface after a couple of weeks. The gloss gave a noticeably slicker finish that seemed to be easier to clean off, but it was also slippery when wet so I wouldn't use the gloss over any surface that may require traction. After a few weeks to evaluate I decided to finish the rest of our bright work with ~3 coats of natural and ~4 coats of gloss. For upkeep, I've found that just scuffing up the gloss layer and reapplying a couple of coats is easy and effective. I have no long term comparison on maintaining just the natural teak vs natural/gloss.

All this being said, I did not provide an appropriate 'control' comparison by finishing a section with just 7-8 coats of the Natural Teak. I don't know if the observations above are due to the gloss formulation or simply a result of using more coats when including the gloss than the natural alone.

Suggest you try both on a smaller surface of your boat to see which you like better.

EDIT: just looked at my maintenance log and the original application was in 2010. At the time I noted issues w/ air bubbles when applying thick coats to the hatch boards so I changed my technique a bit and applied thinner coats to the coamings and other bright work. All work was done with 1" and 2" foam brushes purchased off of Amazon.
 
Last edited:
Aug 10, 2020
511
Catalina C25 3559 Rocky Mount
The aesthetics are subjective, and I would fall on the other side of 31seahorse. I personally prefer the look of 2-3 coats of gloss over 3-4 coats of the Natural Teak (# of coats dependent on imperfections and the amount of sanding between coats). To my eye the gloss adds depth and an illusion of clarity. It can't hold a candle to a good varnish job, but for my skill set, Cetol is a much more forgiving application and sets the bright work off differently than the base coat alone.

From a utility standpoint, the gloss finish provides some differences (in my limited experience). When last refinishing our bright work, I finished a single coaming with 3 coats of the natural plus 2 coats of clear gloss and the other coaming with just 3 coats of natural teak. I found the gloss "smoothed" the finish out and repelled water/dirt better, while also providing a 'harder' surface after a couple of weeks. The gloss gave a noticeably 'slicker' finish that seemed to be easier to clean off, but it was also slippery when wet so I wouldn't use the gloss over any surface that may require traction. After a few weeks to evaluate I decided to finish the rest of our bright work with 3 coats of natural and 2 coats of gloss. For upkeep, I've found that just scuffing up the gloss layer and reapplying a couple of coats is easy and effective. I have no long term comparison on maintaining just the natural teak vs natural/gloss.

All this being said, I did not provide an appropriate 'control' comparison by finishing a section with just 5 coats of the Natural Teak. I don't know if the observations above are due to the gloss formulation or simply a result of using 5 total coats vs 3.

Suggest you try both on a smaller surface of your boat to see which you like better.
Thank you. That's what I was wondering
 
Jan 7, 2014
395
Beneteau 45F5 51551 Port Jefferson
I think the gloss requires at least one coat of natural first. Check the instructions.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
I have been refinishing my teak using cetol. I have read different things regarding the use of the cetol gloss on the last 2 coats. Is it necessary?
Don't know. I typically use two coats of cetol natural & two coats of gloss. Holds up well for approximately four years on Gulf Coast, which in my opinion is great! Don't know if natural only would last as long as the combination.
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
If the Cetol experiment doesn't pan out, I can recommend the product below. You can find it at any big box or neighborhood hardware.... or Amazon. I found this after a number of years using Cetol back when it was ORANGE. I guess it's improved, but I ain't going back to the stuff since Helmsman is about 1/3 the price. A quart will go a long, long way on a C25's limited brightwork. It comes in gloss, semi gloss and satin. It is as easy or easier to apply than Cetol.
 
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