Teak Garden & Conservatory Furniture

Maintenance Relating to your product &

How to maintain the quality of your Teak Garden furniture

We are often asked about the best ways to care for Teak Furniture. Because of the hard and yet forgiving nature of the timber it will withstand a great deal of abuse. But it will also repay a little tender loving care, so please read through this page and pick up a few hints.

Generally you can buy our Teak Garden Furniture in one of two conditions:
• Fine sanded
• Oiled with Teak Oil. (an additional charge will be made for this service please ask)

Fine Sanded If you buy your furniture fine sanded it will have only the natural colour of the wood coupled with the raw natural texture of the teak grain. The untreated timber is a very pleasant yellow-brown olive colour when still fresh.

If your furniture is to be used indoors, and away from a lot of natural sunlight, over a period of time - perhaps six months to a year - the wood will gradually become a darker shade of brown.

Can I leave my furniture outside?  On the other hand the furniture is left outdoors, the effects of the suns rays will 'bleach out' the timbers natural colour, gradually turning it a soft silvery grey colour. This silvery grey ‘patina’, which develops over time, gives Teak Furniture a distinctive appearance. The silver grey colour is considered to be very attractive, and allows the furniture to blend in well with many outdoor environments. Teak furniture left in this state is easily maintained, and needs no treatment whatsoever to give many years of service. And this is about as easy as a maintenance schedule as it’s possible to get!

Cracks may appear periodically in the furniture and then go away, this is perfectly normal as the wood breathes and reacts to variations in the moisture content of the air. If any, some cracking tends to appear on the end grain sections and usually happens early in the life of the furniture. Cracks come and go depending on seasonal variations but rarely do they affect the strength, performance or life expectancy of the item.
It can help to cover the furniture through the winter, see our covers.

Teak Oiled If you buy your furniture already oiled (Personnel at Cotswold Teak will be pleased to advise you on this matter or, for a small charge, they can carry out the task for you. Please note that any preservative will ‘naturally’ raise the grain of the product (thus allowing greater penetration of the product into the wood) and may therefore feel slightly rougher than pre-treatment. This can be overcome by giving the product a light sanding). with teak oil it will have a darker than normal mid brown colour and a soft sheen. Teak wood is itself naturally oily and requires no treatment to be used indoors or outdoors, the use of teak oil won't increase the life of the timber. It does change the colour somewhat and can help to prevent stains seeping into the timber. It will slow down the greying effect caused by ultra violet rays.

To maintain its appearance teak oiled furniture will need to be re-oiled. If you decide to re-oil your furniture, you can contact us for supplies of teak oil, or buy from a local supplier. A basic method for oiling is as follows:

The furniture will need to be cleaned first [see below] Afterword's ensure that it’s dry before oiling. Look around the furniture first and attend to any areas requiring sanding before starting work.

You will need some teak oil, a clean  2" paint brush, some clean cotton rags, good light and plenty of space to work in. It can be a little messy so be sure to wear some overalls, and wearing household gloves to keep the oil off your hands is a good idea as well.

The oil can be applied with a clean brush, starting from the top and working downward. The surface should be left wet by the brush, but try to avoid leaving surplus oil behind as you work.

After 5 - 15 minutes depending on the ambient temperature, the oil will start to become 'tacky'. At this point the surface of the furniture should be wiped down with a clean cotton rag, removing all surplus oil.

One coat is usually sufficient, but you can apply a second coat if required, after a minimum of one hour for the first coat to dry. Once you have completed the oiling and the surface is touch dry, a second clean rag can be used to buff up the surface.

Dispose of any used rags and cleaning cloths carefully.

Cleaning Teak Furniture  If your Teak furniture requires cleaning this can be done with a normal household bristle brush  and some warm mildly soapy water. Wash down afterwords with clean water. There are also proprietary cleaners on the market, to clean off various deposits and accumulated dirt and stains. Or by using a pressure washer set low and use about 6-8 ft away, too close will raise the grain too much. When using a pressure washer you will almost certainly, have to lightly sand afterwards.

We do not recommend the use of steel wool or wire brushes as any residue left in the grain will rust and dis-colour the wood.

Most drinks stains will weather out naturally or can be cleaned with soapy water and a hard brush. Avoid permanent marks by wiping up spillages as soon as they occur.
If the furniture has some stubborn and heavily ingrained stains these can be removed by sanding with a fine grade of sandpaper, being sure to work only with the direction of the timber grain. After sanding stains away like this, if the furniture was previously teak oiled you may wish to re-oil, or if it had previously been left natural, the fresh teak colour exposed by sanding will soon mellow in with the existing silver grey patina.

Storage Under no circumstances put any of your furniture in the greenhouse for storage over the winter after it has been outdoors. The sudden change in temperature and creating a sudden dry environment  with no moisture will likely cause the wood to warp and split due to this sudden high temperature changes,  far better to leave it outside than place in a greenhouse. 

 Coverings Plastic sheeting is not recommended, it too will act like a greenhouse, trapping moisture inside then sudden heat build up when the sun appears, again  you can imagine sudden changes will likely change the appearance of the furniture detrimentally. Always obtain a cover that protects from rain but lets the moisture out because its material, this will allow the furniture to 'breathe' naturally and change along  with the elements and temperatures at the time. We sell such cloth Teak material furniture covers. Placing the furniture inside a garage will be ok also garden sheds are preferable or outside covered area. We hope this has been helpful.

Fittings  Most fittings are made of brass. A light surface rusting may naturally occur in damp conditions – this can be removed with fine wire wool.

Health & Safety All products are designed and tested with safety in mind. However, it is essential that care is taken at all times to ensure your safety is protected. Particularly be aware of –
• Teak is a heavy hardwood. Take care when lifting or moving it.
• Teak is a natural produce and is thus prone to ‘wear and tear’. Carry out a 3 monthly visual inspection of the product to ensure it is safe to use
• Certain products are designed to be collapsible. Exercise caution when closing them up, or moving them, to avoid trap injuries.
• To reduce the risk of ‘toppling over’, please ensure that weight is evenly distributed across all products.
If you become aware of any Health & Safety issues associated with our products then please contact us to discuss the matter

We hope you have years of pleasure from your products

teak patio garden furniture

BMH Imports (T/A Cotswold Teak )