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I’m very excited to see the Deks Olje mentioned! I know other varnishes are more durable, and I completely understand that there’s a need for hard one-part and even two-part products.
That said, the maintenance-over-time aspect of Deks Olje is stellar compared to almost everything else. Wash it, gently wet-sand with D1 and a scotch-brite pad every year or two, maybe another coat of D2 now and then… never having to go down to bare wood unless you stop maintaining it. Even minor nicks and scratches are easy to repair.
D1 is pretty sturdy, but definitely not glossy, and it needs to be reapplied more often than D2. It works for stuff you’ll be stepping on as long as you don’t need a shine. D2 does have a great varnish look, and while it will never be as hard or glossy as a two-part finish, I’m content to have a 90% solution that works year after year without major effort.
It’s not perfect, but as long as you understand its shortcomings, it’s a miracle compared to the alternatives.
Thanks for the comment Mike. I’ve been using Deks on my teak for about 35 years now. It’s interesting to see the reluctance of other boat owners in switching to this product, typically because it’s not a “varnish”. It’s perfect for our wet climate where even the two part varnishes lift at corners and under hardware, and then the whole project has to start again.
Great article.
When I bought my Santa Cruz 40 (in Santa Cruz) it had a great finish on the teak, even cloth covers for the hand rails. After several years of maintenance by me and crew, we decided to spend our time racing, not varnishing. Shiny teak is pretty, but it does not add speed.
I (we) spent each fall and spring painting and then sanding the bottom. That really adds speed in light air.
Again, this was a great article for the cruiser.
Thanks for the comment Ralph. I look after a J44 where the owner has the same opinion. Not that there is a lot of teak to maintain on the J, and to each his own.
The teak companion way steps and swim platform on my Florida Sabreline 34 has turned grey with age and I decided to clean and coat with Deks Olje. After teak cleaner and six coats they looked beautiful, as new. Then I happened to read that oil is not a good idea as the oil finish would oxidize black in the sun. Sure enough it began to turn black and now looks worse than the grey. I have not trackled it yet and I’m concerned the teak cleaner won’t work on the oxidized oiled finish. I can’t sand as the wood is groved for grip. I’ll try and remember to update this as I work on it over the winter.
Interesting Noel. Thanks for the feedback. I have never seen the Deks product turn black as a result of the sun. Over what time period are we talking? I went 15 years between stripping Deks off my teak hand rails, cabin brow and hatch trim. I started with eight coats as recommended by Deks. I touched up the small scrapes and winter damage, wet sanded with Deks 1 and added two coats of Deks 2 every spring. The touch-ups blended right into the finish and, unless you knew where they were, you’d never notice them. But none of it ever turned black. The sun bleaching turned the teak into a lighter brown more than anything else.