How to Restore Weathered Teak Garden Furniture

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We often receive questions from our customers regarding cleaning and restoring weathered teak, so we decided to put together a simple guide to help you to keep your furniture in good condition for many years to come.

Firstly, a little about teak itself. Teak wood is a dense, close-grained, hardwood, which is sourced from the Tectona grandis tree, native to South and Southeast Asia. The wood starts off golden brown in colour, and has a smooth grain and texture. It is high in natural oils and rubber, meaning it’s strong, durable, and virtually impervious to extreme weather conditions and rotting, even if left untreated. Due to these characteristics, teak furniture is among the most durable garden furniture you can buy.

Weathered Teak

Over time, untreated teak will weather to a beautiful silvery-grey patina, as a result of the surface layer oxidising after exposure to UV rays and rain. This ageing process is purely cosmetic and only affects a thin top layer, it does not affect the longevity of the teak.

To keep teak looking its best, we recommend cleaning your teak garden furniture at least annually, or whenever you see that something has landed on the wood. If it has been some time since you were able to clean your furniture, you might be faced with something like the above images. This is a very weathered table, which has fungal blooms (naturally occurring) and oily food stains all over it. The Lutyens-style bench has been left to weather for years and has lost it’s smooth texture.

weathered-teak

Clean Your Teak Outdoor Furniture

What will you need?

  • Rubber gloves
  • Teak Cleaner / washing up liquid
  • A hose or clean, warm water
  • A heavy duty scourer
  • A soft cloth

On a fair, dry day, the first step will be to wash your outdoor furniture. Completely wet the teak using a bucket of water or hose at a normal pressure. Please do not use a pressure or power washer, as these will loosen the joints and strip away teak's natural, protective oils.

Now you will need to give the furniture a thorough scrub all over, using your scourer, gloves and cleaning product of choice. If using Teak Cleaner, always follow the instructions on the bottle.

cleaning-teak

Making Progress

After a time, you will notice the honey golden colour of the teak starting to show through the dark grey. There may still be some stubborn darker patches remaining, such as those left by grease/food stains. Depending on how long these stains have been left, you may be able to improve their appearance by scrubbing the area a little longer than the rest of the furniture. You may also wish to use a very fine grade sandpaper for this, and if so, always ensure that you sand in the direction of the grain. Do not worry if the sanded area ends up looking lighter, as it will gradually weather to the same colour as the rest of the teak.

cleaning-in-progress

Results

Once you have removed the top layer of residue and patina, your furniture should look notably improved. You may need to repeat this process a few times, to ensure that there are no patches. It is usually easier to spot any areas which have been missed once the wood dries.

When you are happy with the final results of your hard work, and the teak is dry, you may wish to apply a product. We recommend either our water-based Teak Protector or Teak Patinizer, not oils, or you can leave the teak untreated at this point. To prevent further dirt, food and drink stains on table tops, you may wish to apply our Teak Sealer Shield.

Click here to browse our range of Teak Care Products

before-and-after

For more information please visit our website www.cyan.co.uk, call our friendly team on 020 8655 6240 or email us at [email protected]

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