Polishing, Waxing the Garage Door Using Teak Oil - Only After Cleaning Door

When I was using teak oil on my car and on my trailer a few months ago, I realized my garage door was a horrible mess and wanted to see if I put the teak oil on it, if it would take off the grime and oxidation like it did so well on the trailer. It DIDN'T take it off. 

If you are going to wax or teak oil your garage door, or anything else for that matter, do a test spot. If it is only dirty with oxidation, it will probably clean up and polish fine with just teak oil. If the test area doesn't come clean, make sure you clean it BEFORE using the teak oil!

To apply this to a clean door, just use a can or bottle of pure Teak Oil from Walmart or another hardware type store. Walmart had a good size can for $10. I would have had enough left over from doing my trailer and half of my car but it dried out as I didn't put a plastic cover over it before I put the lid on. There was build up on the can from all the use. 

So, when you use the can, make sure that you put a plastic baggie or saran wrap over the top before putting the lid back on. I wish they would just make a screw on lid but on the can I purchased, they don't. 

The oil covers a huge area. I did my 21 foot trailer at least two times around and the fiberglass about five times. I did the one side of my car and never got to the other but the drivers side looks great! I would have probably had enough to do my two car garage door at least once if not twice if it hadn't dried up. 
 
To apply it, I have lots of cotton rags due to my making lots of t-shirt quilts, check a few of them out at these links below. 

Using caps or hats on t-shirt quilts.

T-shirt quilt Princess 1 part 1. 

T-shirt quilt Princess 1 part 2. 

T-shirt quilt Princess 2  A and B

I have the rags and tried using them on the trailer but they left little bits of thread on the sticky Teak oil and then they would dry in the oil as it hardened. 

I found that a strong paper towel was the best option. One that is a bit thicker holds the oil better and doesn't shred while spreading it if you have to rub harder to get off some of the oxidation. Just pour some of the Teak oil onto the paper towel and wipe it on. When the cloth is dirty, get a new one. I find that if I just fold it into a square and then fold it over the other way once one section is dirty, it uses less oil as the other layers of the towel are already saturated with the oil but aren't dirty so I just use the paper towel until it is really dirty.
Above is the video of how I did the trailer and you can clearly see how much better the trailer looks with the Teak oil on it. I think it shows up better as the colors accent it. The garage door looks WONDERFUL now and as soon as I did that, I realized that the picture window to the side of the garage that has a bit of vinyl siding around it is FILTHY! I now need to use the same techniques on it and will have to show you how that works out. I haven't tried teak oil on vinyl before. Wood, fiberglass, metal and painted items, I have tried and they are great. Vinyl will be a new one but it is in need of cleaning desperately. I can't wait to have all the outside household chores done. It seems like I get one off the list and add two. The backyard play area is needing some attention soon. . . . I'll add it to the "list." :-)