I use lemon oil on my interior wood, it combats meldew, gives the boat a nice fragrence and the wood has a nice rich look to it. I do a quick wipe down at least every other time I go to the boat, it takes about half an hour to give all the interior a quick wipe down. I like the look far better than varnished wood and it is cheap and simple.

We use Armada on ours. It has a satin finish and makes the teak look fantastic. You can do touch ups without sanding first. However, it takes a long time to dry!

Steve,

Lemon oil (from what supplier...just squeeze a lemon???), or Lemon Pledge? Or...?

Larry, I am not sure I think it is Formbey's, it is not Lemon Pledge though I do use that on the acrylic windows. The lemon oil I am using comes in a clear plastic bottle and I find it at many grocery stores or hardware stores.

I did try mixing it with teak oil but, was not pleased with the result, it took a long time to dry and the tung oil does not smell that pleasant. I keep a bottle and rag under the sink and do a quick wipe down either when I get to the boat or before leaving.

Try Home Depot or others in their wood finishing dept., you will find there.

We use plain teak oil on ours (1986 same wood below). If you odn't like dark, then you should have bought a Mark II.:):):)

Stu

I found that the teak/tung oil darkens the wood more than the lemon oil, it tends to bring out a bit more red in the teak. You do need to put the lemon oil on more often. Lemon oil kills meldew teak oil does not and teak/tung oil smells up the boat for a month and the lemon oil gives off a nice aroma. I did try mixing some Lemon oil and teak oil to see how that would work, the teak oil still stunk up the boat.

I went to the boat to give it some love yesterday, did an exterior wash and wiped down the interior wood with the lemon oil. I checked the brand I was using and it was Holloway House.

The problem with an oiled finish is that it uses.......oil. Oil will collect dirt, dust, cooking smoke, etc which will in turn make it darker and darker. If you add more oil to the dirty oily finish, you can guess what happens. If you love to work on your boat, I would suggest that you bleach out the oil and take the interior down to bare teak. Then sand lightly, apply sealer, sand again and apply several coats of varnish. I would suggest Satin for the bulkheads and Glossy for the rails and trim as highlights. This is a messy job on the interior and oxalic acid is not kind to fiberglass so extensive masking and rinsing will be involved, but the result will be what you are looking for. Since it's on the inside, the varnish will last for years and years with no touchup.

Mike

Bob

I purchased the Holloway House Lemon oil at Albertsons or Safeway. As for lightening your wood you could also use an oxalic acid solution, this is what you use on exterior teak to brighten it. Sanding and Varnishing the interior teak is an option but it is a fairly massive undertaking and once you have started you are commited to it, it is not a weekend task. Also the bulkheads are a thin veneer if you sand through it you are screwed. Wouldn't you rather go sailing?

Don Casey's book This Old Boat, goes into restoring below deck woodwork and this is where I got the idea to use Lemon oil and as you can tell I am sold on it. It is like the fond memories of the women of my youth, cheap and easy.

As for the the oils gathering dirt and odors, this a complaint I have with the heavy oils like tung or linseed oils as they are heavy and do not penatrate quickly. They are good for exterior teak where you are using them for weather protection but, are overkill down below. As for odors keeping the wood oiled reduces the ability for it to absorbe odors and the fabrics on your boat will tend to be the biggest culprits in this regard.

[QUOTE=Steve Frost;1552]Bob

It is like the fond memories of the women of my youth, cheap and easy.

[/QUOTE]

:eek: Cracked me up. :D

The water based varnish may not be most appropriate for the backsplash. One of my friends with a Mark II C34 says that the best thing about the water based varnish is that he can see where all his chainplate leaks are!!! :):):) And that's the ONLY good thing he has to say about it!

Once you varinsh you always varinsh.

When I got MY C36 I cleaned all the wood work and then let it dry, I next applied teak oil, I have been happy with the wat the boat looks. But I will tell you I am going to try out the lemon oil, sounds awesome, and I like the Idea of it combatting the mildew issue, along with the LEMONNY SMELL.

Good Luck with your new boat