My boat is only a year old but I use it a lot so the teak on the swimstep was looking really bad. I had tried oiling it but the oil wouldn't take so it was time to refinish it. Step one was sanding using 80 grit paper on a random orbit sander, followed by a 1-step teak cleaner. After rinsing the cleaner off and letting it dry, it was time for oil. Three coats of oil and it's looking pretty good. Here are the before and after pics. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/69850.jpg" alt="before"> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/69851.jpg" alt="after">

In the future, don't sand it, all you need to do is go to a boating goods store, get some teak cleaner, and a strong bristled scrub-brush and take to it. The teak cleaner loosens the layer of dirt in the cracks of the teak(the microscopic ones) and the scrub brush gets them out(it will look brand new once this part is done), then just put a coat or 2 of oil on it. Did it to my 99 mastercrafts platform, which hadn't been done since it was new(it looked like yours(old) when we got the boat in 9/02) and it came out perfect. The same result, but probably a little easier than sanding it. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by tommyadrian5 on June 05, 2003)

How long is your deck staying that golden brown color? I oil mine and the color is gone after one or two trips out. I need to keep this thing nice since I just paid 300 for it. <BR> <BR>Your platform looks awesome though! Good work.

If you want them to stay nice for more than a couple trips, you need to oil it around 3-4 times and with a day between each oiling. <BR> <BR>This let's the oil really penetrate. <BR> <BR>Wipe on a heavy coat, let it sit for a few hours and wipe off the excess. Let stand overnight and repeat.

Best way to clean the teak is take it to a car wash and hit it with the high pressure sprayer. It does a great job stripping all the dirt and discoloration. You may still want to clean it or sand it - but the car was is a huge time saver.

Looks good…Nice work. From looking at the first pic I agree… you did not need to sand the swim step though. <BR> <BR>If it’s closer to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s than it is to get to West Marine for teak cleaner… you can also use TSP cleaner on your swim step. They have it in the paint department. Depending on your “honey do list…” you can also use it to clean and prep a wall if you are removing wall paper or just re-paining an old wall. I have used both “teak cleaner” and TSP… both worked fine. <BR> <BR>I like the solid swim steps. If you have spaces like I do on mine you can use brass wool to clean the areas the scrub brush can’t reach. <BR> <BR>I usually do 2-3 coats of oil. The oil seems to soak in way better on hot days. That means I only have a few days out of the year I can do it her is Seattle. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0> <BR>

You can't see it in the first pic, but the back of the swimstep had several places where it was splintering, which is why I decided to sand it. I removed just enough to get rid of the splinters and clean up the edge. Since I did it with a sander it wasn't a lot of work and I've read that using 80 grit helps open up the pores of the wood. Either way, it sure looks much better now. <BR> <BR>Next time I'm going to remove it from the boat so I can take care of the underneath side too. <BR>