Caring For Your Teak
Does teak furniture need to be treated?
Teak treatments; should you paint, stain, varnish or oil teak? Everything you need to know about how to look after teak garden furniture.
Does teak garden furniture need to be treated?
Unlike most types of wood used for garden furniture, teak requires no paints, varnishes and oils as the treatment. This is because teak is a naturally oily wood and is therefore resistant to extreme outdoor weather. However, if individuals want that extra layer of protection for their furniture, Teak sealer is available to maintain the teaks warm honey brown colour. If individuals aren’t as concerned with keeping the teak that colour, leaving it untreated is fine this will mean the teak eventually with turn a silvery-grey colour.
Should I use teak oil on my teak outdoor furniture?
As a company we strongly encourage customers against using teak oil (and any oils including Linseed, Danish and Tung) this is due to the fact that these oils destroy the teaks natural protective oils that it originally has, this means the teak then becomes completely dependent and relies on the shop bought oils to retain its moisture and stop it from running out. This means the individual then must always remember to oil the furniture which can seem as a hassle as it needs to be done all year round. As-well as becoming dependant on the oil, the oil also encourages black spots and mildew growth on the furniture.
Teak can be left outside, untreated, although there are a number of water-based treatments should you wish to treat your furniture, including teak sealers, protectors and patinizers, depending on the colour you’d like your teak to be; either its original honey-gold colour, or a weathered silvery-grey. We can’t stress enough how strongly we recommend against the use of wood oils.
How to apply teak oil to wooden garden furniture?
Nearly all teak that is treated with teak oil turns grey in 4-8 weeks. After that, the teak needs to be cleaned and the oil reapplied. Three or four treatments may be needed to maintain the teak for an entire season, which can be a lot of work.
Teak is naturally high in its own protective oils and has all the nutrients it needs to withstand the test of time and weather, even if left untreated. We can’t stress enough how strongly we recommend against the use of wood oils, including teak, linseed, Tung, and Danish oils. Applying these wood oils can dry your teak garden furniture out and cause a multitude of problems, creating more work for you.
Our Recommendation
If you wish to keep the warm, honey colour of new teak, you could use a water-based Teak Protector. Teak Protector lasts much longer than teak oil, generally lasting for the entire season, depending on the weather and other factors. Teak Protector brings out the colour of natural, clean teak and maintains it for a long time. We recommend using a dust-free, lint-free cloth to apply a thin layer.