Take advantage of the present moment to get your teak patio furniture ready for outdoor living and entertaining once the seasons transition. Follow these straightforward steps:
- Begin by gently power washing teak furniture, ensuring that it is still damp during the process. Be sure to use a wide-angle power nozzle to wash your teak patio furniture, preventing any damage to the wood.
- It is common to observe small cracks, known as checking, on teak furniture. Simply apply glue to these areas and sand them down to achieve a smooth surface.
- Finally, apply a Teak protector, Shield, or Oil to enhance the durability and beauty of your teak furniture. This protective treatment will help maintain its quality over time.
Teak ranks among today’s most beautiful, best quality, and longest lasting manufactured timbers. This straight-grained hardwood boasts an abundance of natural oils, a distinctive aromatic scent, high density, and coarse texture. Embedded resinous oils with insect-repelling properties provide strong termite defenses. Thanks to teak’s durability, it is nearly impervious to extreme weather effects. It resists rotting, warping, and splintering from snow, frost, rain, and sunshine exposure. Following basic outdoor furniture care steps including cleaning, covering, and storing will prolong this durable wood’s life and beauty.
Weathering Process
As honey gold teak weathers over time, it morphs into a subtle silvery patina. Depending on your climates’ rain and sunlight amounts, that progression takes around nine months. During that interval, you may notice the grain lift slightly on arm and leg tops plus some minor cracks. This temporary appearance is teak’s natural expansion and contraction process — not a defect. The grain’s initial smooth finish will return upon weathering completion. Continued exposure will eventually transform untreated lumber into an attractive darker gray tone.
Cleaning and Restoring
Teak:
Clean your deck and teak furniture with soft power wash before it dry. Make sure use wide angle power needle to wash teak patio furniture any eroding to teak wood. Then rub in a teak cleanser or dip a sponge in warm water before applying gentle hand soap. Rub fine-grit sandpaper to remove bird droppings, rust stains, and other small imperfections. A diluted oxygen bleach solution will kill mildew and remove stains. Scrub lightly but thoroughly with a soft brush for deep cleaning. After a warm-water rinse, remove any residue with a wet cloth. Pat dry. For your patio furniture to keep its natural golden color and not turn silver, sand it all over lightly. Treat it with a teak protectant or oil. Penetrating and nourishing oils can help preserve the original finish and even restore the lumber’s like-new beauty after its gray evolution. Most teak oils contain UV-shielding ingredients to help the wood hold its raw, warm shade — even in bright sunlight. Repeat the oiling routine every three months for lasting effects. Treated teak can stay outside year round. You can also look two minutes video for How to restore teak furniture.
Cushions Cleaning: Many woven outdoor fabrics undergo chemical treatments during the manufacturing process to resist moisture, mildew, sun damage, stains, and fading. Take off removable cushion covers for washing. Add bleach to kill any mildew during laundering, if labels allow. Replace dry pads and pillows inside clean, dry covers. To remove stains and spills from permanent covers, make a 1-cup bleach/1-gallon water solution. Test some inconspicuous place first. Then saturate a brush or rag with the mixture. Scrub the whole cushion. Rinse with water well and air dry. Heavy downpours or extended showers may cause some rainwater to penetrate your outdoor cushions’ foam cores. Stand them up vertically with their seam or open zipper sides facing downward to help water drain and speed up drying. That takes 24 to 48 hours typically, depending on saturation levels and weather conditions. When you are not using cushions, placing them upright within furniture frames will decrease surface areas susceptible to moisture and promote faster drying.
Umbrellas: Clean umbrella fabrics with a mild detergent and brush. Dry in full open position. Lubricate switches, pivots, and locks.
Covering
Shielding teak and cushions that stay outside year round is easy. High-grade outdoor covers help safeguard against seasonal exposure to prolong appearance and usage. Shop Classic Teak’s line of teak patio furniture covers to select durable waterproof styles that will protect your cherished tables and chairs.
Storing
Sheltering options during the cold-weather hibernation period include patio and deck storage box, sheds, garages, and spare indoor rooms. Furniture: Be cautious when relocating patio furniture from cold outside settings into heated indoor areas for storage. Abrupt temperature and humidity changes may lead to splitting wood. Allowing teak to adapt to contrasting environmental conditions gradually will help preserve it. Pads and pillows: In outdoor and indoor storage zones, stack cushions loosely in clean, dry spaces above floor and ground levels. Cover piles in outside sheds with cloth — not plastic — tarps. Sunshades: Store umbrellas in their closed positions.