Wood is a material that is often found on boats. It can be found both indoors (panelling) and outdoors (wooden boat deck). The most common type of wood is teak, but exotic woods are also common. Outdoors, wood is exposed to various types of aggression (UV, weather, sea air, humidity). Without protection, these phenomena can alter the wood (greying, mould, cracks...). In this article, we will show you the different phenomena of weathering of boat wood. Then we will show you what we think is the ideal protection for wooden boat decks.
WHY PROTECT YOUR SHIP'S WOOD?
In general, two phenomena affect ship decks and ship woods in general: the greying of the wood and the blackening of the wood.
THE GREYING OF SHIP'S WOOD
The greying of ship's wood is characterised by a homogeneous grey (a grey veil) on the surface of the wood. This is often referred to as a natural surface grey. This perfectly natural phenomenon is due to repeated exposure to UV light and rain.
THE DARKENING OF MARINE WOODS
The blackening of ship's wood is characterised by numerous black dots or traces on the wood. These traces are usually removed by scraping with the nail. They can be similar to non-lignivorous surface moulds. This is only an aesthetic alteration of the wood. This blackening can occur naturally when boat wood has not been treated against UV, humidity or sea air.
In order to slow down the natural phenomena of greying and blackening of wood, we advise you to protect the wood of boats. The saturator is the treatment we find most suitable. This product offers excellent protection while allowing you to preserve or warm up the original colour of the wood.
THE MARINE WOOD SATURATOR, THE IDEAL PROTECTION FOR BOAT WOODS
PREPARATION OF THE WOOD BEFORE THE APPLICATION OF A SPECIAL BOAT WOOD SATURATOR
TheMarine Wood Saturator SBM600, ike all saturators, is applied on clean, dry, non-grey, non-blackened wood without any previous finish. Before applying the saturator, a few checks must be made.
When the wood has not received a previous finish, it is very important to precisely define the natural phenomenon that affects your wood: greying of the wood or blackening of the wood. To eliminate the greying of boat wood, we advise you to apply a degreaser such as the Degreaser DG105. The Grease Remover is a product that cleans the wood surface and therefore removes the grey haze on the surface of the wood. To eliminate the blackening of boat wood, we advise you to use a degreasing, cleaning product such as Wood Cleaner N100 or its concentrated version Concentrated Wood Cleaner N140. If your need is new or in perfect condition (you do not see any greying or blackening), the application of a saturator on boat decks and other marine wood is sufficient.
n some cases, when boat woods require major renovation, the joint use of Wood Cleaner N100 and Degreaser DG105 will be necessary. If after the application of the cleaner a greyish appearance remains (grey surface veil), then it will be necessary to apply the degreaser. The important thing is to obtain a non-grey and non-blackened wood to facilitate the application of the boat wood saturator and thus have a homogeneous rendering.
When the wood has received a film-forming finish (varnish, stain for example), you will need to strip or sand your old finish to be able to apply the saturator.
Many people use teak oil or linseed oil to protect boat decks. Oil in a marine environment will tend to darken quickly due to UV light. The more oil there is on the wood of the boat, the more it will tend to become dirty and blacken under the effect of UV light. To remove a previous oil-based finish, you will need to degrease the wood by brushing with Wood Cleaner N100. This will remove the oil and its greasy appearance. If after applying Wood Cleaner N100, the wood is dull, grey (grey veil), the Degreaser DG105 must be used to remove the grey surface aspect of the wood. If you have any doubts about the use of our products, do not hesitate to contact us from our contact section.
APPLICATION OF MARINE WOOD SATURATOR
The marine saturator is a non-film-forming product. It does not flake over time, unlike marine varnish. The latter is a product that effectively protects the wood, but we recommend it rather to protect interior wood. Outdoors, under the effect of UV rays, humidity and sea air, marine wood varnish will flake quickly.
Once you have prepared the wood as described above, the saturator can be applied very easily in layers.
Subsequently, the maintenance of saturated boat wood is carried out by applying a new layer of saturator when you find the wood dull. There is no sanding required for maintenance.
