Hello boaters,

I am trying to remove the oil from the teak benches in my sailboat in
order to clean brighten and apply some new layers of oil. I am using
a two part cleaner, which worked well in some parts of the bench but
requires VERY vigorous scrubbing in other parts, which in turn scrubs
away a lot of the teak fibers and is giving it a rough pitted look.

Any recommendations on getting the oil off in a non-destructive manner?

On Jun 4, 3:46?pm, wrote:
Hello boaters,

I am trying to remove the oil from the teak benches in my sailboat in
order to clean brighten and apply some new layers of oil. I am using
a two part cleaner, which worked well in some parts of the bench but
requires VERY vigorous scrubbing in other parts, which in turn scrubs
away a lot of the teak fibers and is giving it a rough pitted look.

Any recommendations on getting the oil off in a non-destructive manner?

Your challenge isn't so much getting it off as in getting it out. The
oil has soaked into the wood fibers, and attracted a good bit of dirt
in the process.

You will need to sand down to a point below where the oil penetrated.

A good oil job requires as much prep as a good varnish job, and a lot
more maintenance.

Chuck Gould wrote:
On Jun 4, 3:46?pm, wrote:

Hello boaters,

I am trying to remove the oil from the teak benches in my sailboat in
order to clean brighten and apply some new layers of oil. I am using
a two part cleaner, which worked well in some parts of the bench but
requires VERY vigorous scrubbing in other parts, which in turn scrubs
away a lot of the teak fibers and is giving it a rough pitted look.

Any recommendations on getting the oil off in a non-destructive manner?


Your challenge isn't so much getting it off as in getting it out. The
oil has soaked into the wood fibers, and attracted a good bit of dirt
in the process.

You will need to sand down to a point below where the oil penetrated.

A good oil job requires as much prep as a good varnish job, and a lot
more maintenance.

Sudsy Ammonia from the 99 cent store. The best teak cleaner there is.

On Jun 5, 2:31?pm, Jim wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
On Jun 4, 3:46?pm, wrote:

Hello boaters,

I am trying to remove the oil from the teak benches in my sailboat in
order to clean brighten and apply some new layers of oil. I am using
a two part cleaner, which worked well in some parts of the bench but
requires VERY vigorous scrubbing in other parts, which in turn scrubs
away a lot of the teak fibers and is giving it a rough pitted look.

Any recommendations on getting the oil off in a non-destructive manner?

Your challenge isn't so much getting it off as in getting it out. The
oil has soaked into the wood fibers, and attracted a good bit of dirt
in the process.

You will need to sand down to a point below where the oil penetrated.

A good oil job requires as much prep as a good varnish job, and a lot
more maintenance.

Sudsy Ammonia from the 99 cent store. The best teak cleaner there is.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Be sure to test it on a small spot, especially if there are any
caulked joints. Don't know about ammonia, but bleach destroys caulk. I
once followed some free advice to clean teak using Tide with Bleach.
Cleaned and brightened the teak very nicely, just as promised. Also
screwed up the caulk.