Cleaning Bare Teak (Companionway Steps)

Well - spent over 4 hours scouring the interwebs looking for the magic bullet for getting my c-way steps clean. All I know is, i've probably got a better chance of winning the lottery on Wednesday than I do in finding two people who agree the best way to clean bare teak. I'd love to hear what the forum thinks. Thanks in advance....

-B

Oxalic acid?

IP manual says Wisk (detergent) works. If you brush, do it across the grain so as not to remove the softer material. We're about to use that on our cap rail before finishing.

powersht2k wrote: Well - spent over 4 hours scouring the interwebs looking for the magic bullet for getting my c-way steps clean. All I know is, i've probably got a better chance of winning the lottery on Wednesday than I do in finding two people who agree the best way to clean bare teak. I'd love to hear what the forum thinks. Thanks in advance....

- for cleaning I got good results with the "bar keepers friend", a liquid version of oxalic acid. They are available at lowes, Home Depot, etc. Then I began the slow process of making it "glow" using the recommended techniques and oils in the attached article: I used Danish oil, and Danish oil rejuvenator, and mineral spirits, also available at lowes. . I have since began to use the same techniques on all my interior wood. I do not use the oxalic acid on the bulkheads though. Instead I wash with mr clean and water, then I rub well with mineral spirits and a gray 3m scrub pad. Then I begin the slow process of getting the "glow". Read the attached article, (I also included a picture of the first page of the article) to learn how to create the glow. It is actually very enjoyable. I pick a section of the cabin to do at a time, then move on to a different area when the.mood strikes. Please read the article, and you will begin to understand. Every boat and every panel has it's own characteristics. After a while you will get a feel for it. It is much more like growing roses than applying a finish to, say, an automobile metal surface.
www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/oil_finishes.pdf

WOW!!!!!! That looks fantastic. Now you can provide this service to other IP owners! Great job and thanks for the details and steps you went through.

Hayden in Hope Town Bahamas

Has anyone a good recommendation for finishing the companionway steps so that they (a) look good and (b) don't represent a hazard when wet? On Cielo the steps are unfinished right now and I'm thinking of finishing them and figuring out how to make them non-skid. Sikkens recommends using silica sand sprinkled on after the second coat. I've seen other ideas about stick on strips, but am concerned they won't last and might look bad. j
Thanks in advance for ideas.

Steve Ormond
S/V Cielo, IP40