Water Spots on Internal Oiled Teak

[Les Luzar]

I have some water spots that have appeared to have removed the oil on the teak below a few of my port lights. Do I have to sand the whole piece of teac and re-oil it or can I spot sand and re-oil the damaged area only? I am looking for any insight on the easiest way to repair this unsightly staining. I was just going to sand the damaged area with 320 grit and lightly sand the rest of the piece, then re-oil the whole piece. The wood is not varnished, just oiled and a dark redish color. Any tricks I need to be aware of before I start?

[Ron Hill]

Les : I'd use some teak cleaner, rinse and then apply some "Golden" teak oil.

[Indian Falls]

Les that looks as though some bleach got on there or possibly some high power deck cleaner leaked in? 
When my teak gets wet and that doesn't happen.
I've been using 2/3 mineral spirits and 1/3 tung oil on my interior.  Dries fast, easy to wipe on and rub in.
I only use mineral spirits to clean the surfaces first.  I've been using the attached info on caring for teak. 
Hope it helps.

[Stu Jackson]

Les : I'd use some teak cleaner, rinse and then apply some "Golden" teak oil.

I would do that, but use teak brightener, too, before the teak oil.  I use only teak oil down below, too, but it depends on what you use on your teak down below.

[scotty]

If you finish the entire piece, it could easily become different in shade to the rest of the interior.  For that reason I'd try to match the stain to the existing color.  Take your time and see what matches the color best.  As you know, there are a variety of products.  Yes, use a cleaner to even out the stain, but that will also make the wood lighter in color.  You might have to work to get that black line off.  Try the cleaner, but you might have to do a bit of very light sanding - but only on the black line.  Take a piece of scrap teak (of about the same color as the stained section) and try some different oils - do any of them match?  If not, use a stain.  You can get mini-packets of different stains (I get them at OSH hardware).  You can even mix them like a painters palette.  Apply with a Q-tip.  When you get the right color, oil it.  Is it still a good match?  If it is, try it on the smallest portion (a tiny dot) on the trim piece.  When it matches, color in the stained section, with an overlap to feather in the color. I like to use cloth from a white t-shirt to apply stain and feather the edges.  (Tip: a very light sanding will lighten the tone)  With a little patience you can get a match so close that it will blend in nicely.  You can use an artists brush to put a bit of darker stain to carry the line of the grain into the patched section.  That will really blend it in.  Remember, a bit of mis-matched tone will give character to the finish!

[Les Luzar]

Thanks for your comments. I am almost finished varnishing all of my teak and holly sole, finishing off with rubbed effect for that satin finish and it looks outstanding. I am now ready to begin touching up my salon oiled teak and I tried to find some information on the web, but could not find as much information as I did when investigating varnishing techniques. Based on all of your advice so far, I am going to just work the spots in question, rather than sanding that whole piece of trim. I too am worried about affecting the look of that piece and want to maintain the coloring of the cabin. The stain that I posted in the picture is the worst of the few that I have. I don't have any experience working with this kind of teak staining so I will experiment with some of the suggestions provided. I am not sure what was unsed on this teak in the past and I do not have the PO's contact information, but this areo of the cabin does not look varnished, just oiled it seems. I will work slow and experiment and see what results I can achieve.

[mel low]

Les
I have a 86 and have had some water spots and added some new cabinets that I built. I have used 
Minwax red oak and found it to a good match.

[Les Luzar]

This past weekend I experimented with Teak Cleaner Brightener then oiled the spot with Teak Oil Gold. All in all, the results were pretty good. I applied oil twice and the end result is much better. I will also experiment with the Minwax red oak stain on another spot and see how it goes. It certainly looks alot better, with a bit of personality as well. The results are attached.