If you are one of the thousands of boaters who are restoring an old boat that has some or a lot of teak, here is some information you may want to know.
If your teak is white or nearly white after cleaning, the chances are very good that the top 5 to 30 thousandths of wood are dead or devoid of teak resin. The result of this condition is a substantial weakening of the first few thousandths of the surface of the wood. This weakening of the surface will result in premature separation or pealing of whatever you use to finish your teak.
The solution is to sand off the white wood to expose the live wood that is hidden below. Regarding sanding; There is already a post on this blog that addresses sanding teak and you really need to read it.
The real problem comes when the white wood exists on decking. Decking needs to be rough or checked to reduce or eliminate hydroplaning when you are walking the deck when it is wet. So, what can you do? Wet sanding the top of the checking will reduce the required effort considerably. Using course bronze wool to scrub away the white wood in the checking will remove the dead wood without removing the checking. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but if you are restoring a classic teak boat, it’s worth the effort and will result in great looking teak that will hold a finish much longer.
Using caustic cleaners (containing sodium hydroxide) is one of the primary root causes of white teak. These cleaners including chlorine and oxygen bleaches are fast and easy to use, but they do not remove the dead white wood. In fact these harsh cleaners are largely responsible for the condition and they also etch away the micro fibers that hold the main fibers of the wood together. Further, even applying oxalic acid to neutralize the sodium hydroxide is not completely effective and leaves enough active sodium hydroxide to continue etching the your teak for a long time to come.
If you are cleaning boat decking, there is another wrinkle. Between each plank of decking there is rubber like cocking that is supposed to seal water out from between and under the planks. Many of the cleaning products and pressure washing causes the rather tenuous bond between the teak and the cocking to break down and leak. Using less aggressive cleaning chemicals is one of the answers to preserving the bonds.
Using oxalic acid or various degreasers to remove the yellow and gray teak resin is much less destructive than the other type of cleaners and they produce a better result. Additionally, cleaning the surface of your teak will make what ever finish you decide to use stay put longer. Hopefully, what you choose has a UV blocker so that the sun does not destroy the finish and turn the wood gray under the finish.
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