DIYbanter - View Single Post

wrote:
Go to a marine store and get yourself some 2-part teak cleaner.
Regardless of the wood you use it on, it should help you out. It's a
acidic cleaner and a neutralizer.

That's true.

Part "A" is phosphoric acid.

Part "B" is caustic soda.

BTW, dilute phosphoric is sold as muriatic acid for swimming pool use.

Anyway, the phosphoric eats away at the soft pulp of the teak, then the
caustic neutralizes the phosphoric as well as removing any coatings.

After all, caustic is basically paint remover.

You then get to wash down the teak with fresh water, let dry, then sand
down all the ridges left when the soft fibers were eaten away by the
phosphoric, so that it will be smooth and you can start the whole
process over by laying varnish.

Couple of years of that and the bungs covering the screws holding the
teak start popping out.

Couple of more years and it's time for a replacement teak job.

The above is something I would consider completely inappropriate for
white oak.

YMMV.

Lew