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Teak Garden Furniture FAQSome interesting facts about Teak Furniture
What is Teak?
Teak (tectona grandis) is genus of tropical hardwood native to south & southeast Asia. The trees can grow up to 40 meters in height and are deciduous. Teak has been used for centuries to build ships, outdoor structures and garden furniture.
Why is Teak the best wood to for garden furniture?
Teak is a dense grained wood which makes it exceptionally strong, durable and resistant to rotting and warping when with or without treatment. Teak is also packed with its own natural oils which produces a smooth weather resistant wood perfect for quality garden furniture and even when left untreated it has a life expectancy of 75 years.
Does Teak require a lot of maintenance?
This is a common misconception and contrary to popular belief teak requires little or no maintenance at all and over time will simply weather to a silver grey.
A scrub occasionally with something as simple as warm soapy water and a nail brush is sufficient to clean your teak. You can of course buy a teak cleaning kit which has special cleaning chemicals. You can also sand the wood with a fine sand paper, which will take of the top dirt and rough surface leaving a clean smooth surface which can be oiled with Teak oil or left in its natural state. Don’t be afraid of teak, it is incredibly resilient.
Over time teak will, when untreated, naturally weather to a silver grey. For those who want to achieve and maintain a more original golden colour then teak oil should be applied on the day of purchase or the furniture should be kept somewhere dry until you are ready to oil it.
Remember oiling the wood is purely a cosmetic process and does nothing to preserve or extend the life of the wood. Never let the furniture sit outside for any length of time before oiling since it will absorb moisture and the result after oiling will be the appearance of a black mould. Nothing can be done at this point so if you do wish to oil your teak do so by the rules, it is too expensive and too nice a product to ruin. Once oiled it is recommended you repeat the process at the beginning of every season and we recommend you store your furniture somewhere dry over winter or at least cover it to offer added protection from the elements.
Where is Teak from?
Most Teak is sourced from renewable plantations in Indonesia, these Teak plantations were planted by the Dutch in the 1600 and have since been taken over and tightly managed by the Indonesian government. The source of Teak is important is our world today as there are people, companies and countries that are exploiting non renewable forests.
Is all Teak furniture the same?
Not all Teak wood is the same, the outer (white) Teak is softer and should not be used. The inner mature Teak is what the best furniture is made from. Teak should be kiln dried which dries the wood to the core and therefore is less likely to crack - unlike air dried Teak which will retain up to 25% moisture. Tendon and mortise joints are stronger and will last longer then dowelled joints. The highest quality Teak garden furniture is machine made versus handmade, machine made is more uniform and more expensive. Hand made furniture is still good and will save you a few pounds.
What to expect?
During natural weathering it is normal for small cracks or splits to appear. This is perfectly normal and will not effect the durability of your furniture. Teak is an investment and if looked after it should provide you with many years of use. |
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