Cleaning up old teak

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patrickkidd

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Nov 15, 2015
271
J J/30 Seward, AK
I am trying to clean up and rebuild/refinish teak hand rails. They were mounted inside a cabin from a 1981 J/30. It appears that there is some mold or slightly rotten wood, though it is firm to the touch. See photos.

Any idea how to get the color out And make these look nice again? Should they just be painted over in some blond colored epoxy paint?
 

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D

dlochner

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Jan 11, 2014
13,094
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Teak is an oily wood, so paint does not adhere well.

There are teak cleaners that can be used to bleach out the wood. However, be careful with these, they will erode the soft wood between the grain lines.

I would treat those small stains as the patina of use and use a good quality varnish that is compatible with teak. Epifanes makes a couple of finishes that work well and allow for recoating without sanding.
 
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sailnoproblem

sailnoproblem

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Oct 10, 2011
619
Tartan 34C Toms River, New Jersey
I'm not a expert but I just did my toe rail and cockpit side pieces. Had the same dark areas.
Sanded as you did and the dark area still remained, sanded a little to much in a few areas. Anyway I used 2 coats of teak wood sealer which gave a nice darker color and 3 coats of spar varnish. It did a great job of hideing the discoloration, and am very happy with the results. I purchased everything from Jamestown distributors.
If you want expert advice ask Tom Young his boat is a work of art.
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,956
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
If you can remove the pieces nothing works better than Snappy Teak 1 & 2. It's caustic stuff and will definately takes out the soft grain, so follow directions to the letter, but if you do, your teak will never look better. Seal and varnish immediately or you've wasted a lot of effort.
 
Hayden Watson

Hayden Watson

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Apr 5, 2009
3,151
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
I just did my teak and used a two-part cleaner and had much better results than the last time is used this stuff. The directions call for brushing AGAINST THE GRAIN which is just wrong on sooo many levels but it really worked to keep from over-eroding the soft grains. Here is after cleaning and after finish with Senco Teak preservative. No sanding at all.
 

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