How TeakGuard Works on Your Boat

For very many years, teakwood has been the number one choice for boat, ship and yacht builder world wide. With the development of reinforced fiber glass and plastics and gel coat, the number of new boats being build with teak is shrinking, but there are still tens of thousands of beautiful old and not so old boats out there with tons of teak decks, cabinets and bright work. If you own or are about to own one of these boats and have no crew to assign to the constant up keep associated with teak decks and bright work you are no stranger to the amount of work necessary to keep oiled or sealed teak looking good. Even leaving it gray out is not without occasional heavy duty maintenance.

The key to reducing your teak maintenance is to use a repairable, gas permeable (breathable) polymer finish to protect your teak from the riggers of life on a boat including heavy traffic, occasional scratches and dings, wide temperature swings, salt water baths, hot sun and the omnipresence of mold and mold spores.

If you are have a new boat or one that has never been treated with anything skip this paragraph. If not this information is very important. If your teak has ever been treated with a silicone product you need to continue with that product. TeakGuard finish will not be able to polymerize with your teak. Other witches brew treatments containing automotive brake fluid or automatic transmission fluid and some other industrial oils create the same situation. Sanding, even deep sanding generally does not fix the problem. Lemon, linseed, flaxseed, and other vegetable based oils can be removed sufficiently to avoid problems.

Cleaning and lightening teak with oxygen or chlorine bleaches can and often does damage the top layer of wood. This damage often does not show itself for months or even until the next season after several hard freezes. Even leaving small amounts of oxalic acid cleaners (like TeakGuard Teak Cleaner) can cause problems that do not show up for months. Generally the result is the top layer of the wood along with the TeakGuard simply come off is large pieces.

Unlike most woods, woods that are saturated with natural oils do not breathe. Taking this feature into consideration, TeakGuard finish was designed using polymer resins that can breathe. This allows moisture (water vapor) to escape, while at the same time sealing in the woods natural oils and protecting them from oxidization and UV discoloration.

This breathing issue is very important because your teak is exposed to the weather and the Sun. Varnish and other types of sealers trap small amounts of water that get under the coating. Because the teakwood doesn't breathe, and the coating doesn't breathe, when the sun vaporizes the water, the resulting pressure under the coating will cause it to blister, chip, peel, and often turn an unattractive color. This will ultimately result in the need to clean off the finish and start over.

Further, TeakGuard finish chemically bonds with the surface of the wood. Compared to simply adhering to the surface like other product, bonding is a superior technology resulting in a long lasting and repairable finish for you furniture.

TeakGuard, through a combination of absorbers and reflectors, provides protection from ultraviolet rays, to further extend the life of the finish and the wood.
TeakGuard's Polymer resins do not support mold or mildew growth.
TeakGuard dries quickly and will not stain your expensive clothing.
TeakGuard is a water based product, designed to be safe and easy to use.
TeakGuard is non-flammable.

TeakGuard finish must be protected from freezing and shaken well before using.

Once applied to properly prepared wood, TeakGuard will not chip, peel, or fade. It does, however, wear, and weather over time, and normal use. When your teak starts to look a little worn, or is not as beautiful as you like it to be, just give the affected areas a light buffing with bronze wool, and apply a coating or two to the TeakGuard . It will soak into the old TeakGuard coating and renew the finish. Drying Time is approximately 10-20 minutes between coats, so it is quick and easy.

If you have questions about TeakGuard or any All Guard Product, call our toll free help and order line 1-800-448-8325 and we will be glad to discuss your concerns and help you with any application questions or problems. We are unique too - we stand behind our products!!