Before I fit my nice new buoyancy bags, grab loops and painters into my Esquif Prospecteur 15, I was thinking about giving the new girl a bit of all over loving. Have to give her a good scrub out before mounting the D-rings anyway, so I’ll do the outside as well. While I’m at it, I was thinking about giving the timber trim a first sand and re-oil. The boat is still very new so it doesn’t really need it yet, but think it’ll help set a new baseline for the ongoing periodic maintenance.
It seems the Watco outdoor (or Teak) oil is the go. Unfortunately it’s proving very hard to find here in Australia. So my question is: can anyone recommend an equivalent product that might be more readily available here? There a bunch of other ‘Danish’ oils around, and there’s Sikkens Cetol (Marine Teak?), but I’ve no idea which ones would be closest to Watco for quality/ease of use/etc.
Watco is easy to get here in the USA and it’s excellent for the use you need it for, but what’s available down-under is not something many American are likely to even know. And with international trade laws, without being a lawyer specializing in international trade, it’s going to be a wild guess what you can and can’t get.
Some form of Tung Oil is what I’d try. I use it on gun stocks and it weathers well and is easy to work with.
What brands and where to get some in OZ is nothing I can help with however.
WATCO is a polymerized oil referred to as Danish Oil, which hardens but it’s easy to apply and reapply. It’s popular for cutting boards due to the food safe rating. However, WATCO doesn’t offer much UV protection against prolonged sun exposure.
Tung oil helps with shedding water, and it retards drying and discoloring of the wood. It offers slightly better UV protection than Boiled (polymerized) Lindseed Oil.
It’s a good choice for paddles because the paddle is only exposed to sunlight for limited periods, while bright boat millwork often remain exposed to the sun for long periods. Prolonged exposure darkens and dries the wood, so it requires regular refinishing. Boat trim can be hard to refinish, while a paddle can be sanded and touched up easily.
Paint is excellent for UV protection because it’s opaque, while varnish and oil allows sunlight to penetrate the clear surface and degrade the wood by drying and discoloring it. Varnishes offer UV protection in one of two ways - additives that either reflect the UV or absorb it and dissipate it through heat. The best clear protection is a marine spar varnish.
If you want a particular look and easier touch up, any polymerized oil would probably offer the same protection as WATCO or Tung Oil. Look up Teak Oil, which is essentially Tung and Lindseed Oil.
You’ll find that oils differ primary in a few characteristics - ease of application, drying time, penetration, wood coloration, hardness, and longevity of the finish, but the UV protection isn’t radically different. Always remember and respect the signifucant danger of dealing with spontaneous combustion when handling rags with oil. They will generate enough heat to ignite if left in a crumpled pile to trap heat as the oil dries.
I like tung oil but, of course, I don’t know about availability in Australia. I use gloss for gunnels and thwarts and non-gloss for paddle grips. Formbys is a readily available brand here. Dries fast so a couple coats can be applied in a day. I light sand with 220 grit every five or six coats. It doesn’t last forever but is easy enough to wipe a coat on every now and again so that’s not of critical importance to me.
Pay heed to Jyak’s warning about spontaneous combustion. I usually burn my rags intentionally rather than leave them lying around to self ignite. I neighbor lost his garage to carelessness with oil rags.
Yup, spontaneous combustion is due to organic breakdown of natural oils and as the decomposition develops, methane gas is produced, and that gas is VERY easy to ignite from exterior sourced like sparks ------ some so small you can’t see them (like dust blowing over charged surfaces) I have seen hay stacks go up from that phenomena a few times in my life.
The idea that it gets hot enough to flash is not actually correct. Remember all organic mater will die at high temps over 240 degrees, which is far below the flash point of most fibers) . But in the process of gaining heat, up to about 165, degrees the production of methane is rapid and because it’s a gas a spark can light it many feet away and the “fuse” floats back to the source.
Anyway, using such finished all the time I have a way to deal with it in 100% safety: When done with any rags or paper towels, pile them in a safe place and light them on fire yourself.
Burn them off as soon as you are done working and NEVER throw then in a can and leave them there.
I have wood stoves in my shop and home, but for those who don’t any open windless place of ground or cement is a good place to burn them off.
Do it 1 rag at a time if need be, but if you control the burning in very small fires it never gets out of control. Burn them off a bit at a time and have a can or bucket of water right next to you as you do it
Didn’t realize the mechanism that caused it to ignite. We had several ways of disposing: A can of water, an airtight fire rated trash can for solvent rags, spread to dry out over a metal rack, or burn them as you recommend, which is my preferred method.
Sikkens sells many products in the Cetol line. Best to find knowledgeable a dealer and ask. Unfortunately, they sold their N. American business to PPG a few years ago so the products may not be comparable now.
Teak oil is a mix of oils so one brand is likely to be different than the next. I prefer pure tung oil (also known as China wood oil).
Lots of good products out there. I like Watco and have used it for 50 years. Plenty of colors to match up with old stains. I like tung oil best, teak oil like Sikkens is really good too.
I like linseed oil too, but I suggest choosing boiled over raw. Raw takes forever to dry while boiled (which I have read isn’t actually boiled) will have drying agents added.
Linseed oil is a major component in wood stains and oil bases paint, which relies on pigment to protect the wood from UV. It penetrates the wood to strengthen the fibers, improves workability, but it doesn’t offer much in thecway of waterproofing. Metal salt are added to form longer molecule chains that enhance harden and reduce drying time. The same process used in WATCO.
It doesn’t do much to improve anti-weathering properties. I believe Teak oil is just a fancy name for a proprietary mixture of polymerized Tung oil and Linseed Oil. Samo samo! They all provide similar protection, which works as long as you repeat applications as the effectiveness.
What makes oil finishes so desireable is that they don’t form a hard shell which eventually cracks and chips. It’s easier to refresh an oil finish with a little cleaning, a scuff, and then wipe on a fresh coat.
@SDierikx - your question is a good one as it can be difficult to sort the wide choice of products. The community responses may help others beyond Australia. My current thinking:
Some “oil” finishes have mineral spirits and varnish added. I avoid those for the reasons @Jyak noted (the potential to build up a hard shell that can chip or crack).
I’ve used linseed oil in the past and have found it acceptable. Either boiled or with metal salts added (to accelerate drying) is OK; avoid raw. As others have noted, my experience is that linseed oil requires more frequent reapplication.
“Teak oil” is a generic term for blended oil products. Because the blend can differ between brands, some may be fine while others may disappoint. For that reason, I take a pass on Teak oils.
In recent years I’ve used tung oil on my one boat with wood trim. I have found that one application per season keeps the ash and walnut in good shape, though that may not be enough for boats stored outside or for those with more open-grained or porous wood species.
Good luck.
Nice summary. Agree that tung oil is a better choice, as long as you stay on.top of rejuvenating as required. Worth noting that a boat sitting at a marina dock needs more projection than a paddle boat that sits in the shed for most of the time. That is vastly different than a wood strip or plywood boat with a fiberglass/epoxy covering, which MUST be protected from UV to prevent separation and moisture seeping in then being trapped to rot the wood.
