Interior maintenance ip 31

Can you advise the correct product for restoring the interior wood finish in ip 31 1988?

Sorry to resurrect an older thread...Does anyone have a technique to determine whether interior wood is oiled or Varnished? I've spotted some grey wood in the hard to reach areas - leading me to believe that the interior is oiled - but I've got a suspicion it was Varnished at one point to cut down on interior maintenance.

Thanks!

our IP27 still had the factory oil finish and obviously very little was done to it. You could see and feel the woodgrain and the surface was dry, not smooth. We used the same Starbrite Golden Teak Oil the Hayden referenced, when applied it was just absorbed into the wood. In a matter of a day it didn't look any different, my guess is that it was just dry.

After a few applications and no difference we considered doing the varnish thing as well. I found a different product though, Minwax Helmsman Teak Oil. That was more like a honey consistency, the Starbrite is much, much thinner. The Minwax product was absorbed with a freshly oiled look that didn't go away.

You could try using an oil finish product in a hidden area that you suspect was varnished and see if it gets absorbed or sits on the surface?

powersht2k wrote: Sorry to resurrect an older thread...Does anyone have a technique to determine whether interior wood is oiled or Varnished? I've spotted some grey wood in the hard to reach areas - leading me to believe that the interior is oiled - but I've got a suspicion it was Varnished at one point to cut down on interior maintenance.

Thanks!

Power,
Hi, and welcome.
The question you ask is a good one. The interior wood is unique on every old boat, and what works well depends on the particular circumstance. No one thing works every time. But do not despair, there are some common and basic precepts that you can modify or vary to your own particular needs.
First of all you do need to determine if you have varnish, or if it is oiled. Almost all are oiled. If you cannot tell the difference, then get somebody who can. It is ok to go to an occult area and scrape some to see if you have a varnish, or polyurethane, etc. You should be able to tell. All that stuff comes off in flakes of plastic, whereas oiled wood is, well, oily wood!
If it has a finish such as varnish, then your job is much more difficult. Lets assume that it is only oiled and just darkened and neglected. After a time all the oil turns dark, accumulated dirt, grease, cooking smoke, hand dirt, etc, etc and it is covering your beautiful teak. Time to get it off, but without damaging the wood. You are in luck in that the teak is pretty tough stuff.

First of all, you have to clean the wood. I would suggest at this point that you reference Don Casey's "This Old Boat". I could rewrite the chapter in the book, but no need. If you bought a boat, you can afford a book! ha.

I would like to add a little practical advice, Pick a manageable area. We started with the head. That way, you get a little practice, you find out what works for your boat, and you do not get overwhelmed. Remember this is supposed to be fun! Relax, slow down, and let things happen in their own time. That is what sailing and cruising is all about. Don't forget that. it's important.

Begin with cleaning the surface of your wood and the walls of your head with a product called Mr Clean. I spray it on after diluting according to instructions, and let it sit for 15 minutes. I keep respraying as needed to keep the surfaces wet. Then I scrub it off using plenty of elbow grease where needed with a wet towel, rinsing well as I go. (hey, you gotta sink sprayer right there and all the spray and soap drains out the floor to the bilge, right?) You should see a moderate amount of sticky goo beginning to lift off. Don't worry, scrub away with your terry cloth towel or microfiber towel. That is the crap you want to get off.

After that, if the wood is still dark (and it probably is) then I repeat. If still too dark then I apply the "barkeepers friend", liquid. It is Oxalic Acid, cheap and get it at lowes. Rub it in again with the same wet towel. After that, I rinse, and rinse again. Then dry everything down with a nice clean towel, just like you would your car after a wash.
Then I have a beer or two. let everything dry, then check it all out with a good light. repeat as needed for stubborn areas. pay close attention to corners, louvers, etc. DO NOT GET IN A HURRY!

SURFACE PREP, SURFACE PREP, SURFACE PREP. Almost all of your time should be spent on getting the surface clean and smooth. No hurry. No worry.

Now you should have, mostly, light brown, dry looking, teak. Now you can begin to use Starbright's Teak Oil rubbed in and buffed well every day until, after a few days, you begin to get a healthy glow..There are some tricks to this, but nothing fancy. For example, a lot of people will put the first two or three coats of Teak Oil on with a terry applicator, and immediately buff it with a gray wood buffing pad, or wool pad then wipe off the excess to shine. You can research and read about this online, or in Don Casey's Book. Again, don't hurry. The wood will only respond at a certain rate. it is not a race, it is more like grilling ribs. It takes time.

If you have taken your time, and put in some hours, by now your teak is beginning to look pretty good, and, hey, you have a nice sense of satisfaction. In addition you have learned something about your teak, and your boat. And when you are ready, move on to another section, such as the port salon, or the galley.

As you can see, this post took quite a bit of time to type. But it is worth it if it helps you. Best of luck, and keep me updated please!

Well...after a couple days of trying to figure this out - one of the former owners emailed me out of the blue and told me that the interior is neither oiled, nor varnished!!! So, what finish do I have???

Wipe on Poly...

So, I guess this begs a sub-question to my original question: What can I do with this "wipe-on" Poly finish?

You might be asking: well, does it look bad? Absolutely not!!! The interior is fantastic (fantastic for a 28 year old boat, that is) - but there are some hard spots. "grey" wood in some place. Some places where there are some .... ahem .... dings... ... and some spots where the finish is wearing thin/non-existant. My question revolves around whether or not this wipe-on poly is compatible with other coatings, or if it's going to be a pain in the butt to get it all off the interior wood and start from scratch...

If the former - great! If the latter, I'll probably stick to what has worked in the past. (Probably similar to my still pending decision on whether to keep the Cetol on my topside teak, or to strip and switch to Epiphanes like a number of my friends are trying to convince me to do - only they don't have 3 acres of wood to strip and varnish...)

powersht2k, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but if you try to "patch" with something you probably won't be happy with the results. If I were you, I would plan to remove all of the Poly, but only a little at a time. First, with something as small as a q-tip or small paint brush, wipe some Citristrip on a portion of the gray area (a very small area). Wipe off per directions and wash area very well. If you really want to clean the area after you strip off the Poly, use 1 cup of Clorox, 1 cup of Whisk, and 1 gallon of clean water. I usually use an old water jug of sorts for this. Wait at least an hour and wash off. You should see a real difference in the now bare teak and the stuff that's covered with Poly. Just take it real slow and easy in removing the Poly.

BTW, we are in the process of stripping the Cetol off Whimsy and varnishing with Epiphanes. The difference is amazing and definitely worth the effort. Since I can't face the "3 acres of wood to strip and varnish", I do small areas at a time.

powersht2k wrote: Well...after a couple days of trying to figure this out - one of the former owners emailed me out of the blue and told me that the interior is neither oiled, nor varnished!!! So, what finish do I have???

Wipe on Poly...

So, I guess this begs a sub-question to my original question: What can I do with this "wipe-on" Poly finish?

You might be asking: well, does it look bad? Absolutely not!!! The interior is fantastic (fantastic for a 28 year old boat, that is) - but there are some hard spots. "grey" wood in some place. Some places where there are some .... ahem .... dings... ... and some spots where the finish is wearing thin/non-existant. My question revolves around whether or not this wipe-on poly is compatible with other coatings, or if it's going to be a pain in the butt to get it all off the interior wood and start from scratch...

If the former - great! If the latter, I'll probably stick to what has worked in the past. (Probably similar to my still pending decision on whether to keep the Cetol on my topside teak, or to strip and switch to Epiphanes like a number of my friends are trying to convince me to do - only they don't have 3 acres of wood to strip and varnish...)

How is it going?

IP recommends Scott's Liquid Gold.

Could you be more specific as to what Liquid Gold product that IP recommends?

There's a lot of them...

I too, use Starbrite Teak Oil and it works great! There is no odor and it does look more beautiful over time.

Old thread but I thought I'd share my experience. I used Daly's Seafin oil and applied it according to instructions in Rebecca Whitman's classic book, Brightwork. Basically, the oil is applied with a foam brush and then wet-sanded into the wood using progressively finer grits, starting with 250 and ending up with 400 or 600, depending on how smooth a finish you want. A bit of work, but the result approaches the look of satin varnish. It has a soft glow that is beautiful. This oil only slightly darkens the wood and has maintained this look for over 21 years with only a couple re-refreshes during that time.