| I've just cleaned my teak cockpit and aft platform and am pleased with the result.
Here are photos of the teak when I bought the boat in August 2019:-
After a season of boating, they looked a bit scruffier than this and I felt it was time to give the flooring a good clean and reseal.
After some searching around the web, I found a teak specialist in Oulton Broad, just a few miles from my home. Sadly, Marine Teak is now closed but the products mentioned can easily be located at other vendors.
I started by giving the teak a normal wash-down with water to remove the loose dirt. Then I used the red Teak Cleaner diluted 1:5 parts water with a cloth. Inside the cockpit area I didn't need to work this hard at all but on the external platform area I had to repeat it with a more concentrated mix and a paintbrush to get rid of some stubborn dirt and some minor organic growth. When you use this product, the teak turns a dark reddish brown.
After washing down with water, I then used the green Teak Restorer diluted in water and applied with a cloth. This bit is really easy. The Restorer neutralises the cleaner fluid and lightens the teak again. Then I washed it down with water. Initially, this still looks quite rich in colour:-
The following day I returned and was able to use the Semco teak sealer on the cockpit area which was now completely dry and light coloured:
This looks fairly dark while still wet, but after a few days it looks much more traditional:-
Unfortunately the weather was very poor for the next few days, so I had to wait several days before the aft platform was dry enough to apply the sealer.
Here it is just after application:
After a few days these lightened up - a big improvement on the tired grey look:
I'm very impressed with these products and their ease of use.
The cockpit cleaning took about 75 minutes and another 30 minutes to seal the following day.
The aft platforms, despite being smaller, took a bit longer ~ 90 minutes to clean. Sealing took about 15 minutes when the weather finally broke for long enough for it to be dry.
16th October 2020 Updated 17th October 2020 with approximate timings and additional images of aft platforms with dry sealer. Updated 8th May 2021 - changed links as Marine Teak is now closed.
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Kevin Millican
