NO natural or clear outdoor finish has any uv protection use them and your project will go gray silver.

Mesmmers is junk.

Anchor seal is a waste of time and money. Sand it all off and put on a quality finish. J.

well we will see about mesmers Ive heard some good things about it. I just finished applying the Natural Mesmmers UV which puts a slight color on the boards which they claim helps prevent UV discoloring. I agree with anchor seal begin junk that leaches into end cuts and makes it bad. Not going to sand all off and refinish, I'll wait till next season see how well Mesmmers does. I suspect I'll have to apply this yearly. My house has alot of natural wood siding and trim so yearly Oiling is something I have to live with. I think alot of complaint on finishes is either people that don't apply them correctly or don't plan on the yearly mainentance, in that case they should let the IPE go naturally grey.

Regarding getting the Anchor Seal Stains out I sanded all my boards but its impossible to remove all the anchor seal leaching I just made it a little less. The was didn't seem to have an affect on the sealer application it darkened the boards a bit and now Im the only one that can tell where the Anchor Seal had leached at the end cuts.

I really hope your luck is better than mine with messmers. mine lasted 3 months (at most)

The first time any oil based penetrating finish is put on ipe it will fade in a few months due to the difficulty in getting the product to penetrate ipe which is high in natural oil. Over time the finish should last longer. I use Cabot's ATO because I like the Mahogany Flame color. The first coat put on in Spring 2006 faded badly over about 3 months. I refinished it the next Spring and it lasted a year. Now I can go 1 - 2 years. Of course, in the second year the finish doesn't look as good as the first year, and some areas are more faded than others, but the overall appearance is acceptable to me. With each new application the finish tends to darken which you might or might not like. The finish does need cleaning every year to remove any mildew and dirt that accumulates.

As for Mesmers, there has been criticism in the past that it attracted a lot of mildew. The criticism of natural finishes is that they generally have little UV protection. Messmers for hardwood "Natural" appears to contain trans-oxide pigments so it should provide some UV protection. The higher the level of trans-oxide pigments the better the UV protection. It sounds like the Messmer's Natural is really a light stain.

It would be great if people would report on how their finish holds up over time. They all look great when they are first put down.

Marty

Marty:

Thanks for the informative post, and you are right people should post their experience . mesmmers natural is a light stain which I didn't expect and at first didn't like the darker color, but it grew on me. I'll be sure to come back next spring and post my experience. If nothing else to help some other guy going through same issues make a decision via Google Searches. When I was looking for a solution to Anchor Seal leaching all I could find was my post so hopeful my experience with that will help someone.

P.S.
Thanks to those who gave an explanation of their experience with Mesmmers instead of just saying its Junk, If you can't take time to explain a solution to a problem don't respond to posts. It goes hand in hand with the saying " if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all ".

I agree with Marty, most will notice that the finish lasts longer each year. When dealing with exotic lumber such as ipe, it is tough to find a good quality finish as most do not soak in properly.

I have started using a new product, Ipe Oil. One of my customers turned me on to this a couple months ago. I have since used it on 3 other jobs with no complaints. I will have to go back next year and see how things have held up.

I usually agree with John's comments but the one saying "NO natural or clear outdoor finish has any uv protection use them and your project will go gray silver." I do not agree with. I think we had this discussion a couple of years ago but here again is my understanding of "natural vs clear color/finish".

I agree that CLEAR finishes do not contain the pigments necessary to provide UV protection that keeps the wood from going gray/silver. However, natural are actually colors (natural to the wood) & most, if not all, including Messmers, do contain the iron oxide pigments that provide UV protection.

I did use Messmers originally on my IPE deck and while originally it looked great it did not last & I ended up with black mold-looking spots. However, now I believe they contain the mildewcides that good stains like TWP,etc. have. But I changed to TWP116 & have been happy with that.

Messmers website has on their FAQ the question/answer of:

Q: I want to keep my wood looking natural? Should I use a clear finish?

A: Clears with no pigmentation do not offer UV protection or color retention. Our products contain Transparent Iron Oxide pigments which absorb UV radiation while allowing visible light to pass through. This results in a finish that highlights the natural beauty of the wood while still protecting it.