Finish for old teak glider

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

We have an old teak glider loveseat outside in the shade of our house.  I left it unfinished, and over the past 20 years it turned gray and dirty, with moss or lichen growing here and there.  My house painter offered to power wash it while he was at it recently, which he did and restored it to a nice clean and fresher teak color.  He recommended I finish it with an outdoor deck finish like Sikkens Cetol SRD (078 Natural color) to preserve the look.

Two questions:  1.  Anyone with experience to report with this finish in this application?  2. Other recommendations?

Thanks for your help.

[Herb G]

I'd go with tung oil. But that's just me.

[Trusty Rusty]

Cetol SRD is a very good product
Rusty

[chrisf]

I have two quarts of the cetol sitting here to redo the teak arbor I built 10 years ago for my wedding. Everything I read said its good stuff as well.

[gboot]

I have a patio set made of Teak for 12 years now, after the first couple of years I power washed it and applied Teak oil. Looked good for one season then looked worse than before. From what I read unless you are prepared to refinish every year it's best to leave it unfinished. Now I power wash it ever other year followed by a lite sanding to reduce the grain raising. Greys after the first year but not dirty looking.

[frigator]

We lived on the saltwater for 25 years and had teak all over the boats. At first we would oil them every year. Over time we learned to just let them be. Just clean it every 6 months or so. I watched all the charter boats too. They would varnish the transom of their wooden boats but the rest just stayed natural.  I have two teak rockers  I made 14 years ago. WE keep them outside and they have never had a finish on them.  You can oil teak, teak oil, it looks nice for a few months then goes back to gray. If you want to film finish the two part epoxy varnish lasts the longest.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

Thanks to all who responded.  I appreciate your advice.  20 years ago I decided not to finish this piece, but to let it go gray instead, as some have advised now.  However, this time I think I’ll try the other approach and use the Cetol SRD.  I understand the downside is that it requires more active management.  We’ll see how that goes.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

This is to close the loop with what I actually used for a finish on the teak glider.  My painter had recommended the Sikkens finish I mentioned in the original post above.  He also strongly recommended Cabot Australian Timber Oil, but I thought the samples he had in his truck were too dark.

When it came down to actually buying something, I talked with my local paint store, which sells both the Sikkens and the Cabot finishes.  They said either would work OK, but their strong preference for use on teak was the Cabot Australian Timber OIl.  So I went with that finish, natural color.  

I was very pleased with how it went on.  My wife is delighted with how it looks.  And, as an added bonus, I can wipe rain or dew from the surface, and it’s immediately dry and nice to sit on.  We’ll see how it is to maintain, but so far it’s a winner.  I wish I had used it originally on the glider 20 years ago.