practical sailor teak cleaner

8/4/2019 Practical Sailor Teak Cleaner

1/432 march 2008 www.practical-sailor.com

Nothing tugs a sailors heart stringsquite like a boat loaded with beautiul, golden-hued teakespe-cially when its someone elses boat.Maintaining a boats wood fnish is a

love/hate aair or most owners, butortunately it is something that teaklends itsel to easily. You can cleanand oil or varnish it, or take the morelaid-back approach, and let it weatherto its natural, silver-gray color.

Regardless o a boat ownersmaintenance philosophy, most teakwill eventually need a thoroughcleaningbe it in preparation orall layup, spring commissioning, orwhen readying the wood or oilingor varnishing. For regular washingo teak decks, we recommend usinga sot-bristled brush or scrubbingpad and a mild detergentor noneat allscrubbing across the graino the wood, rather than with it (toavoid removal o the soter wood).But or less requent, more intensecleanings, or or areas being preppedor a wood fnish, a teak cleaner can

be the solution. Theres no shortage oteak cleaners available, but which one

to use? From one-steps to two-steps,pastes, powders, and gels, PracticalSailorscanned the market to fnd themost eective teak cleaner available.

What We testedTo narrow the feld, we divided theproducts into two categories: stand-alone cleaners and cleaning duos(two separate products applied oneater the other, oten a cleaner and

brightener). This evaluation coversthe solo cleaners; the twosomes will

be reviewed in a uture PS issue.

CaptaiN JohNs Boat BriteCaptain Johns Boat Brite Teak Clean-er is billed as a 100-percent non-toxic,phosphate-ree, biodegradable wayto deep clean teak while restoringits natural beauty. Made by the NewYork-based Brite Group, the paste wasthe only product tested that adver-tises being compliant with the U.S.Environmental Protection AgencysNational Clean Marina and CleanBoating guidelines. Its ormula in-cludes sodium cocoate (a derivative ococonut oil), emulsifers, and water. It

was noticeably less harsh than otherproducts tested and actually had alight, pleasant smell.

Captain John directs users to applythe cleaner with a sot-bristle brush

and leave it on or several minutes toallow or the deep cleaning o imbed-ded dirt. PS testers let the product sitor about 7 minutes beore rinsingwith resh water.

One issue testers had with thisproduct was its small, tub-style con-tainer. When cleaning larger areas,you have to transer the product romthe 12-ounce tub to a deckbrush orthe deck. Captain John reported thatthe cleaner will be available in largercontainers later this year.

As with most green productsthese days, being eco-riendly comeswith a price: At $20 or a 12-ouncetub, Captain Johns was the mostexpensive cleaner tested. But in thiscase, being gentle on nature alsomeans being gentle to your teak.

Bottom Line: Boat Brite cleanedits test panel well, and its nontoxicnature means no worries about itdamaging adjacent suraces.

The Dirt on Teak Cleaners

They all work, but which one is the fastest? The least harsh?

Nine products made the teak cleaners test roster, including one gel (Star Brite Teak Cleaner Restorer), onepaste (Captain Johns Boat Brite), and one powder (Iosso Teak Cleaner). Three required mixing with water(MaryKate Nu-Teak, Dalys SeaFin, and the Iosso).

MaryKateNu-Teak

IossoTeak

Cleaner

Star brite GelTeak Cleaner

Restorer

CaptainJohns

Boat Brite

West MarineTeak Cleaner& Brightener MDR

Amazons

Teak Cleaner

Dalys SeaFinTeak Cleaner

Star briteTeak Cleaner

InterluxPremium

TeakRestorer


2/4


3/4


4/4

makes numerous boat maintenanceproducts. Its Star brite Gel FormulaTeak Cleaner Restorer is touted asan environmentally sae, biodegrad-able cleaner with no acid or harshchemicals, so it will not raise woodgrain. The citrus-based cleaner hasno noticeable chemical smell.

The only gel in our test group, itsability to cling to vertical suracesis handy or cleaning trim or othernon-horizontal suraces. Its 5-minutedwell time was middle o the pack.

The gel ormula is easier to controlduring application (no spatters orrunning) than liquids. There alsowere no warnings about damage toadjacent suraces.

Bottom Line: Testers like the gels

versatility and controllability, andits less-harsh nature. Out o a feldo eective cleaners, the Star britegets our Recommendation or easeo application.

star Brite teak CleaNerWe also tested Star brites liquid teakcleaner. This non-acidic liquid isadvertised to remove stains withouthard rubbing and without raisingwood grain. It will not harm fber-glass or painted suraces and has

no dwell time. Active ingredientsinclude sodium hydroxide (lye) andsodium hypochlorite (bleach).

Bottom Line: The no dwell timewas a plus, however it was one othe more harsh-smelling cleanersand possible damage to abric is aconsideration.

West mariNe oNe-stepBoating supply giant West Marineadvertises its One Step Teak Cleaner& Brightener or use on lightly soiledteak suraces. According to West, theOne-Step Cleaner restores teak toits natural color, but the phosphoricacid-based liquid may damage gel-coat, paint, and metal suraces, a

big drawback in our eyes. It has aminimal dwell time, two to threeminutes.

Bottom Line: As with the In-terlux product, the West Marines

brightening capability saves a step.

However, the harshness o the acid-based cleaner and the likelihood itwill damage suraces adjacent to thecleaning area hold the West Marineout o the winners circle.

CoNClusioNAs we noted in How We Tested,all o the test products cleaned theteak quite well. So we had to look

beyond perormance to make ourrecommendations. One o the criteriawe rated the products on was eco-riendliness, or its green rating.The rationale being that any productgentle enough to be green will be lessharsh on teak (and the user).

O the products we tested, CaptainJohns Boat Brite took the recommen-

dation or being the most eco-riend-ly, thanks to its compliance with theEPAs Clean Marina Program, a sel-review and recognition program ormarinas, boatyards, and boaters. An-other EPA program supports greenproducts by allowing them to carrythe agencys Design or the Environ-ment (DE) label. This mark allowsconsumers to quickly identiy andchoose products that can help protectthe environment and are saer oramilies. None o the products we

tested carried this logo.The most economic product was

the Iosso cleaner, the PS Budget Buy.For a one-step cleaner/brightener, werecommend the Interlux PremiumTeak Restorer. And or its versatilityand ease o application, we recom-mend the Star brite gel ormula.

CoNtaCtsBrite Group585/943-6111captainjohnsboatbrite.com

dalys800/735-7019, dalyspaint.comiNterlux908/686-1300, yachtpaint.comiosso847/437-8400, iosso.commarykate800/272-8963, crcindustries.commdr516/546-1162, mdramazon.comstar Brite800/327-8583, starbrite.comWest mariNe800/685-4838, westmarine.com

m a i n t e n a n c e

Practical Sailorsolicited teak care ti

rom a ew industry veterans, an

we ound that maintenance metho

are like snowfakes: No two are alike.

John Nealcaptain o Mahin

Tiare, a Hallberg-Rassy 46 sail-trainin

ship that has seen more than 117,00

milessaid that once a year, he wash

the decks with a very sot, fuy brus

and a solution o resh water, dish soa

and a little bleach. He lets it sit or 5 miutes or less, and then rinses the dec

Once or twice a year, he uses Boracal

clear, odorless anti-ungal that does

bleach the wood but keeps mold

bay. (You can nd it at GS Supply

Vancouver: 604/325-5422.)

Teak-deck manuacturer Teak Dec

ing Systems cautions against usin

bleach on decks, as does Star bri

Vice President Je Tieger. Bleac

harsh laundry detergents, or oth

harsh household products can we

away teak, Tieger said. For regulmaintenance, he suggests washin

down the decks with resh water an

a mild boat soap. For bigger jobs, h

recommends a teak cleaner or brigh

ener. According to Tieger, even dec

should be sealed with an oil or seal

to prolong the lie o the teak and

protect the wood rom getting th

washboard look caused when the so

wood wears away.

t t

Because salt water is abrasive, itscours the deck as it washes overit, wearing away the softer teak.This, and the constant torture ofUV and rain, mean that after adecade or so of sailing, most deckwill need to be lightly sanded, anthe seams cut back and recaulke

PhotobyJohnNeal

march 2008practical sailor

practical sailor teak cleaner

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