Choosing & caring for wooden cleats

People email me the same three questions before they order, so here are the answers in one place: which size to pick, which wood to pick, and what to do once it is on the wall or the boat.

Which size

I make cleats in two lengths, and the choice is really about rope thickness rather than looks.

10 cm mini cleat. Sized for line of about 4–6 mm. That covers flag halyards, tying back a curtain or a blind, hanging a picture frame or a mirror on cord, key racks, and small model or tender work. One rope turn sits comfortably in the horns; anything thicker starts to lift off the base.

14 cm cleat, sold in pairs. Takes line up to roughly 10 mm — fender lanyards, a dinghy painter, a hammock end, a shelf or a coat rack. This is the size most people want when they say “boat cleat”.

Say it plainly: these are hardwood, not stainless. They are made for light lines and for looking good. Do not use them for mooring a boat of any real weight, for towing, or for anything where a failure would matter. If a load is going to be serious, buy metal.

Which wood

Every cleat is cut from solid stock — no veneer, no laminate — and most of it is reclaimed timber that came into the workshop as offcuts from other work.

Oak is the hardest of the three and the palest. It has open grain that takes oil deeply and darkens over the years into a warm honey colour. It is the one to choose if the piece is going to be handled a lot.

Teak is the traditional deck wood for a reason: it is naturally oily, so it copes with damp far better than anything else here, and it weathers to a soft silver-grey if you leave it alone. The most forgiving choice for an exposed spot.

Mahogany is the darkest and the most decorative — a deep reddish brown with a fine, even grain. It is the one that looks most at home on a classic runabout or against white paint.

Baltic birch turns up in the keychains, usually laminated in stripes against teak for contrast. It is light, pale and takes a very smooth finish.

Oiled or unfinished

Some cleats are sold oiled and some bare, and both are deliberate.

Oiled pieces have had several coats of tung oil worked in by hand after sanding to 320–400 grit. The oil soaks into the wood rather than sitting on top of it, so there is nothing to chip or peel — it deepens the colour, brings out the grain, and gives some water resistance. They arrive ready to fit.

Unfinished pieces are sanded smooth and left alone. Choose these if you want to varnish them, paint them to match a hull, stain them darker, or simply use your own oil. Do not leave bare wood outdoors untreated — finish it before it goes up.

Fitting

Every cleat is drilled through for two fixings. Which screws or bolts you use depends entirely on what you are fixing to, so I do not supply them — a wall plug and a woodscrew for plasterboard, stainless machine screws and a backing plate for anything on a boat.

Two things worth doing: countersink so the head sits flush rather than proud, and if the piece is going outside on a boat, bed it on a little sealant so water cannot sit in the holes. Do not overtighten. Wood compresses, and a crushed cleat looks it.

Keeping it looking right

Indoors, an oiled cleat needs nothing. Dust it. If it ever looks dry, a thin wipe of any furniture or tung oil brings it straight back.

Outdoors, give it a coat of teak or yacht oil roughly once a year — more often if it faces the sun all day. Wipe it on, leave it fifteen minutes, wipe the excess off. That single habit is the difference between a cleat that still looks new in ten years and one that goes grey and rough.

If you would rather it silver naturally, that is a legitimate choice too, particularly with teak. Just accept it as a decision rather than neglect.

Never put any of this in a dishwasher, leave it soaking, or scrub it with anything abrasive. Warm water and a cloth is the whole cleaning routine.

One thing about the keychains

They are made of hardwood, and hardwood is dense. The keychains do not float, whatever the shape suggests. If they are going on boat keys, put them on something that does.

What handmade actually means here

Each piece is cut, shaped, sanded and oiled by hand, one at a time. Grain runs differently through every blank, so two cleats from the same board will not be the same colour, and a photograph can only ever show you one of them. Small variations in figure and tone are the point, not a fault.

If you want something in a size or a wood you cannot see on the site, ask. Most of what I make started as somebody’s email.