Teak is beatiful varnished!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />I have a sailboat full of it, inside and out.<br /><br />Use whatever means you see fit to clean it. I have found that using the teak cleaner /brighteners that contain oxcalic acid work fine but leave the wood rough and you will have to sand anyway.<br /><br />Sand smooth, at least 150 grit-220 grit paper<br /><br />WIPE WITH LAUQUER THINNER!!!! This gets rid of the surface oil and allows the first coat of varnish to penetrate.<br /><br />Thin a good marine varnish (I use Interlux Goldspar polyurethane exclusively) about 10% whith their thinner (216 becuase I apply with a brush) and coat. Don't even bother with sthe stuff they sell at the local hardware store. The UV packages they add are nowhere near the level that a professional finish like Interlux uses. You will pay more--Around $26.00 per quart, but the proof is in the can.<br /><br />I use a foam brush that I throw away after each coat.<br /><br />on later coats go to about 2-5% thinner. I am never able to use the stuff out of the can and have a flawless finnish without thinning, just doesn't self level.<br /><br />8-10 coats to have that awesome " deep" look sanding lightly in between. I have found that a "fine" grade foam sanding block works best and the grit lasts longer than paper.<br /><br />Let cure for about 7 days after your final coat<br /><br />Wet sand lightly with 1200 grit paper. I can never get varnish to dry without picking up some dust particles from the air.<br /><br />Use a foam buffing wheel and buff with liquid rubbing compound medium grit.<br /><br />Looks like a million bucks!<br /><br />Takes a fair amount of time but the results are worth it. There is not an oiled piece of teak in this world that comes close to looking as good as a good varnish job. <br /><br />The biggest enemy of varnish I have found is UV. Water doesn't seem to hurt it but the sun will just cook it. I had a deck cover made to go over just about everything that is teak. I expect that I will have to recoat--not redo, everything in about three years.<br /><br />My work all came up front and oiling isn't a 1/4 of the work but it has to be vigilantly maintained or the teak will go grey and you have to start over.<br /><br />This is just an alternative opinion from a guy who likes shiny wood.
