Caring For Your Teak Garden Furniture

Oils & Treatments – A Choice Not A Necessity

Our garden furniture products are crafted from sustainably grown Teak wood.  Teak is very dense, hard wood and contains natural oils which give the furniture its proven ability for durability and longevity, facing all weather conditions, without treatment.

Your teak garden furniture can happily be left outside all year round and requires very little in the way of care or maintenance. This is one of the great things about using teak to make outdoor furniture.

It is important to understand however, that teak garden furniture will, over a period of time, gradually loose its initial ‘golden brown’ colour weathering to a silvery, ash grey patina. (Many people tell us they actually prefer this to the original colour of the wood as it blends into their garden more.) This weathering process will happen within the first year, if the furniture is left outside and un-covered. Leaving the furniture to weather naturally will not damage it at all.

Based on our extensive experience with teak furniture, if you are happy letting the natural weathering process take place, then all you need to do is just gently wash the furniture down a couple of times a year with a mild soap and warm water combination, just to clean off any tree and bird deposits.  Applying an actual treatment to your furniture is a choice and certainly not a necessity.

 

Applying A Treatment To Your Teak Garden Furniture

Teak treatments and oils are designed to maintain the original golden-brown appearance of your teak furniture. These treatments do not nourish or help strengthen the furniture in any way as they do not get absorbed into the wood. Instead, they sit on the surface, and they too will begin to fade over time. Therefore, the process of applying an oil or treatment will need to be reapplied according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Cleaning Teak Garden Furniture

There really is no secret to cleaning your outdoor furniture except that it requires some elbow grease (nobody has figured out how to package that yet).

There are basically two reasons to clean your teak products;

1. you want to remove any tree or bird deposits and possibly any surface mould or mildew, from the wood and get it back more towards its original colour.
2. you need to kill all the mould and mildew spores present so they will not continue to eat the natural teak oil and discolour the wood.

Warm water with some washing up liquid is the best way to clean the furniture using a nylon scouring pad or a stiff scrubbing brush. Please do not use a wire brush!

For stubborn stains, use a mild solution of bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice and apply to the stained area, gently rubbing in the direction of the grain. Please ensure the solution has been fully washed off after applying.

It is recommended that you patch test your cleaning solution, on a small and less conspicuous area first.