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Hi Nadeane,

The tea colored leaching you are seeing is indeed the teak's natural oils and this is actually very normal. All teak decks do this and it is proof that your deck as you rightly say, still has life in it yet. There are a number of polymer sealers on the market you can put on the deck to prevent the water from soaking in when it rains and these will also prevent the deck from graying and developing mildew and to an extent will extend the longevity of your decks.

However most people (including me) don't really like to use these products as they don't always look very natural and are labor intensive to apply. But if you do chose to try one, then in my opinion "Semco" is the best. It's very close to clear resulting in a more natural look and it lasts for many months (depending on conditions, mostly sun). I've embedded a link to their website, just click HERE.

Also, I have a good friend that recently got a very nice result from a Starbright sealer and here is the link to that website. Click HERE.

Bottom line, if you want to keep your teak "natural" then you have to put up with the tea colored liquid. We keep the deck on the yacht I operate natural and each morning I use a chamois to wipe down the boat.

Best regards,

Captain Ian Fagg