Maintenance Tips for Outdoor Teak Furniture

Teak is a hardwood tree native to southeast and south Asia, and it is famous for its beautiful natural brown tones and durability. Teak wood has high natural oil contents, which help enhance its resilience, strength, and rot resistance.

These qualities make wood a perfect choice for making outdoor patio and garden furniture. While teak wood furniture requires little maintenance to maintain its beauty and last long, you should not completely ignore it and should do your best to take care of it.

Leaving teak wood furniture unattended for a long time will make it dirty discoloured and reduce its lifetime. Some of the tips you can follow to maintain your teak wood outdoor furniture looking new and beautiful.

Maintenance Tips for Outdoor Teak Furniture - BE Furniture Sales

Tips To Effectively Care For Your Teak Wood Furniture

Clean them regularly

Outdoor furniture is prone to all types of dirt and debris from dust, mould, leaves, cobwebs, and bird droppings. While you cannot get rid of all the bacteria, germs, and other contaminants, removing the visible dirt will go a long way in ensuring that your teak wood furniture remains new for a long time.

Experts recommend using a stiff bristle brush to scrub the furniture four times every month. Never use steel wool to clean your teak wood furniture, as that will leave rust spots. To avoid making any permanent scratches on the wood, ensure you follow the direction of the wood’s natural grain.

Ensure you clean the furniture on a sunny to ensure that it dries completely to avoid rotting. The first thing you need to do is use low-pressure water to remove any loose dust and debris on the furniture’s surface.

For a regular wash, use a dilute solution of water and dishwashing soap to wash the furniture, and you can also add bleach if there are any stains or mold on the surface. If cleaning solely to remove mould and mildew, use a mould and mildew cleaner.

Let the solution sit on the surface for a few minutes, then lightly scrub with your brush. Finally, rinse the surface using a wet cloth or low-pressure water from a hose. Avoid using high-pressure water because that could roughen or scour the surface.

You should also ensure you do not leave any cleaning solution on the surface. You should also leave the surface completely dry.

Keep your teak furniture away from mould and mildew

Mould and mildew are the number one enemy of any wood, and teak is no exception. While teak wood has high levels of natural oils that protect it from mold and mildew, your furniture could still have a high level of those, especially if you live in a humid place.

Ensure that your teak furniture is located in an open place with free-flowing air free from stuffiness and excess humidity.

Store the furniture properly

While your teak furniture needs an open space to keep it away from mould and mildew, avoid placing it in a place with direct sunlight. Ensure you have a shade over your teak furniture to maintain its beautiful brown colour.

The hot temperatures from direct sunlight could also cause the wood to dry, shrink, and eventually crack.

While it’s unnecessary to move your teak furniture indoors during winter, placing a cover over them will help protect them. Ensure that the cover you use is breathable to prevent mold and mildew growth.

You should also regularly check the furniture to remove water on or under it if you leave it outdoors. If you move them indoors, keep them away from heat sources like heaters.

Remove spills immediately

If you do not remove drink, food, oil, or chemical spills from the surface of your teak furniture immediately, they will form permanent stains on your furniture.

To remove stains from the surface, gently scrub the surface using a stiff bristle plastic or brush, and scrub in the wood grain’s direction. You can also use a dilute water and wood cleaner solution for tougher stains.

Try sanding the surface using fine-grit sandpaper if the stains don’t come off. Do not use metal brushes, scrubbing pads, and steel wools to clean the surface as they will damage the wood’s natural finish.

If you want to prevent drink and food stains, you can apply a stain-shield solution to create a water-based shield on the surface and prevent any stains from sipping into the wood.

Move your teak furniture carefully

While teak is one of the strongest hardwoods, mishandling it like pulling or dragging the furniture across the floor will result in a lot of friction and eventually erode the wood. Some of the best tips to move your furniture include:

Always lift the furniture even when moving them across a short distance. If you can’t do it alone, ask for help. You should also ensure that you have a tight grip on the furniture you are moving.
Determine where you want to place the furniture and ensure it is clear and away from obstacles, especially fragile things like ceramic décor pieces. For added safety, have someone guide you to determine the exact path to follow and where to place the furniture.
Determine how the furniture is put together if it has detachable parts, and where the strongest points are.
Do not rush to avoid scratching or breaking the furniture, or hurting yourself.

Apply teak sealers

Natural teak has a beautiful honey-brown tone. However, as it ages, it gets a silver-grey patina because of the loss of its natural oils. If you want to maintain the natural brown colour, adding a teak sealer or protector is the best way to do so.

Teak sealers help prevent the natural oils from depleting, which ensures that the natural brown colour remains intact for a longer time. They also protect the wood from moulding, UV radiation, and water damage. Some also add a glossy finish to the wood.

There are a lot of teak sealers in the market, and you have to research before you buy to ensure you get the best. The best teak sealants are ones without teak oils. Adding oils over the natural teak wood could add maintenance-related issues and other problems.

If your teak wood has already started weathering, clean it with a good teak cleaner or use fine-grit sandpaper to sand the wood, remove the old grey layer, and expose a newer golden-brown colour.

If you want to maintain your teak wood at the weathered grey colour, you can use a whitener or greying agent to achieve a uniform silver-grey colour. Those agents also help make your teak furniture less adhesive to mildew and dirt.

To apply the sealants and protectants, you thoroughly clean and dry the wood first. When applying the sealants in the direction of the natural grain for a natural finish. You should also rub the sealant even in any cracks and leave it to dry before using the furniture again.

It’s important to understand that the wood will retain the colour it had before you applied the sealant. Experts recommend applying sealants and protectants once a year. Never use varnish on teak wood furniture as it can chip it and cause it to flake.