TeakGuard Finish is as tough and resilient a finish for teak as you are going to find anywhere. It will protect your teak from mold, moss, and the graying effects of the sun for at least a year or longer with minimal care. However, there are some environmental conditions that need to be addressed.
Air pollution is a fact of life no matter where you live on planet earth. Weather the pollution in your area is from auto exhaust, or an oil refinery up wind from your location, or acid rain, or the fall out from a volcano eruption there are materials in the air that damage all man made finishes including TeakGuard. The best defense against the damaging effects of these materials on your TeakGuard finish or the paint on your car or house is to wash them away on a regular basis. Simply hosing off you teak with water once or twice per month is sufficient in most cases to limit the damaging effects and keep your teak looking great for at least a year. There are isolated areas in the USA that will require more frequent cleaning.
Using strong cleaners like bleach, TSP, dish washer detergent (not products like Joy or Dawn), and other strong industrial cleaner on TeakGuard Finish is not recommended. Remember that TeakGuard Finish breathes. This is demonstrated when TeakGuard gets wet, it gets darker and when it dries off, it gets light again. If the water contains chlorine bleach or oxygen bleach, or oxalic acid, or TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) or some other strong cleaner not all of the cleaner will evaporate out of the TeakGuard and it will eventually do damage to both the wood and finish
Sun and UV damage is the second amongst environmental conditions that limit the life of man made finishes including TeakGuard. The addition of 2 very affective UV reflectors to the TeakGuard formula has made it very resistant to both the heating and oxidizing effects of the sun and the damaging effects of the sun’s UV rays. The solution here is to wash and rinse away the oxidized surface of the TeakGuard and apply a fresh coat or two every year. It is not necessary to remove the old TeakGuard. If there are areas that have worn away and the wood turned gray, just those areas will need to be cleaned with cleaner and coated with TeakGuard before re-coating the entire area. Re-coating high traffic areas or areas that are wearing thin during the year is a much better solution than waiting until the wood show through and turns gray.
Scratches and high traffic (use) areas should be re-coated with TeakGuard as necessary to prevent wear through.
If you get a deep scratch in your teak from a tool box, or lawn mower, or the sag on a water ski, TeakGuard finish can be repaired to completely eliminate the damage.
Use a pad of course bronze wool (absolutely not steel wool) to smooth out the damaged area and feather the edges of the damaged area to cause of gradient in the TeakGuard finish. Clean the exposed wood with Super Cleaner and the oval scrub brush, then rinse thoroughly. Wipe the area dry with a clean rag. Shake up the TeakGuard so that no red material is on the side or bottom of the bottle before use. Apply the first thin coat of TeakGuard with a foam brush and work it into the surface thoroughly to displace all the air caught in the deep grain grooves. Let it dry until it is just tacky (about 5 minutes) and rub your finger over the new TeakGuard to feather the edges. After 20 minutes, put another coat on the area and feather it after 5 minutes. As more thin coats are applied to the damaged area the difference between the new finish and the old finish will disappear completely. If a grain rise appears after the first or second coat, let it dry overnight and use a pad of bronze wool to wipe it away.
If you have furniture that you use for dining or other activities that are likely to cause spills of red wine, koolaid, salsa, or other foods and drinks that are not likely to be cleaned up right away. The time it takes for the stain to set on your TeakGuard finish is extended considerably by apply a thin coating of carnuba wax to the areas that are likely to be involved. You can be demonstrated when you hose off your furniture. In fact, if the waxed area darkens when you hose off you furniture
Once you develop the technique for repairing and refreshing your TeakGuard finish, you will be amazed how fast and easy the process will become. So will your neighbors!
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