Teak is a rot-proof exotic wood. It is naturally resistant to natural aggressions such as bad weather, mould, repeated exposure to UV rays and attacks by wood-eating insects. It is also one of the few woods that is resistant to rust. With its light brown colour, it can therefore easily be used outdoors. For this reason, there are many teak garden furniture, including beautiful outdoor teak tables and garden chairs. You may be asking yourself: should a teak garden furniture set be protected ? We can give you all the advice you need on how to care for teak outdoors.
IS IT NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN TEAK GARDEN FURNITURE ?
You may be wondering: should you maintain teak garden furniture ? It all depends on your requirements. Teak is rot-proof, it resists large temperature variations and does not expand. Despite this exceptional resistance, the appearance of your outdoor teak garden furniture will gradually change.
Teak, like most woods, turns grey over time. This is called the greying of the wood. The wood tarnishes over the years until it takes on a grey colour that is often not homogeneous. If you don't mind grey, silvery teak, there is no need to maintain teak garden furniture. A simple cleaning with soapy water will suffice. Indeed, this colour does not change the resistance of the teak in any way. Your wood will always be resistant to external aggressions.
However, if you prefer the original appearance of your wood, it is better to apply a protection for outdoor teak. The maintenance of a teak garden furniture set allows you to aesthetically protect your wood from the effects of time.
WHICH PRODUCT SHOULD I USE TO MAINTAIN MY TEAK GARDEN FURNITURE ?
To protect teak furniture, there are various care products for outdoor teak such as teak oil, saturators and many others. It is strongly recommended not to apply varnish or stain to teak. These products, which are very effective for other materials, will prevent teak from breathing by creating a film which will accelerate the natural greying of the wood.
The oil allows the original colour of the teak to be restored. You will find specific oils for teak. The oil is a product that is applied very carefully. So if you are new to teak or if this is the first time you are applying teak oil, you will probably tend to apply too much. This will have two major drawbacks :
First of all, your garden furniture will have a greasy or sticky effect, which is not pleasant for an outdoor teak table for example. It will then become difficult to make up for this greasy effect. This often involves renovating the teak garden furniture by sanding it down, which is costly in terms of energy and time. It is very difficult to sand the oil down to the raw wood. The choice of teak oil is an almost definitive choice.
Afterwards, the excess oil will darken the wood, which will not recover exactly the original teak colour.
In order to avoid these inconveniences, we advise you to apply a wood saturator such as the Garden Furniture Saturator SJ600. This product allows the protection of outdoor teak tables, chairs and other teak garden furniture. The saturator is easier to apply and you won't have any unpleasant stain surprises. It is not a film-forming product. It maintains the colour of the teak and enhances its natural protection against UV or weathering.
The application of a saturator on a teak garden furniture is very simple. The saturator is applied in layers, without wiping, and will allow you to recover the shine of your teak furniture. We advise you to apply the saturator to the teak just before the summer, shortly before you take your teak garden furniture outdoors. This way you will enjoy teak furniture as good as new all summer long. You can choose a coloured version of saturator to stain teak furniture.
Afterwards, you will need to iron a coat of teak garden furniture saturator when you find that the colour is dull. To help protect the teak, you can bring the furniture inside in winter. Also, even though teak is highly resistant, avoid leaving standing water on your teak garden table. All these precautions are designed to reduce the frequency of maintenance of outdoor teak. You will then be able to use the saturator less frequently. Above all, do not use covers that prevent the wood from breathing.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR TEAK GARDEN FURNITURE HAS DARKENED ?
If your beautiful teak garden table has turned black or grey, don't worry, it's not too late to protect your teak outdoors.
You may be wondering: how can you tell the difference between grey teak and blackened teak? If your teak is blackened, you will find marks or black dots on your furniture. Also, you may find completely blackened areas on your teak. On a gray teak, there should be no black marks, marks or dots. Grey teak is characterised by a lightening of the original colour of the wood, which turns grey under the effect of UV light and humidity.
If your teak garden furniture has only been greyed out (no black streaks or black spots), you need to degrease the teak outdoor furniture with a degreaser. For this, we recommend the Degreaser DG105. On the other hand, if your teak garden furniture has blackened, on all the furniture or only part of it, you need to clean the teak more with a Teak Cleaner that will act on the black marks. We advise you the Wood Cleaner N100 ready to use or the Concentrated Wood Cleaner N140 which is to be diluted in water before application, it is the concentrated version of the Wood Cleaner N100 . Both cleaners are very suitable for cleaning a blackened teak table.
