Teak is a popular choice for outdoor furniture, such as garden benches, patio chairs, or dining tables by the swimming pool. Teak-made furniture is made up of wood that is naturally resistant to weather like direct sunlight and moist, and it can typically last for years of use, without special care. So, the less you do to your teak furniture, the better it is.
Orva Bench – 130cm
However, unwanted mildew or stain can form on the surface, causing a dull appearance, if not taken care of properly. There are some steps you can take to keep your teak-made furniture away from the problems, and therefore extend its lifespan while maintaining its quality, just as it’s newly bought.
The first thing is to determine whether your teak-made furniture is finished or unfinished. An easy way is to place a few drops of water on the surface – If it beads, it has a varnish finish on the surface; if it absorbs and leaves a mark, it is unfinished.
Our Gera Dining Table teak table top
For unfinished teak-made furniture, which is raw, chemical detergents are definitely out of your options. As it is unsealed and absorbs liquid, therefore it gets damaged or color faded more easily than finished furniture. Nevertheless, you should be cleaning with a feather duster or soft fabric regularly, to make sure it keeps in shape all the time; dirt can be hardened over time and it’s difficult to remove. Also, remember to keep the cleaning fabric dry, while wiping the surface.
While cleaning with dry fabric is the best option for unfinished teak furniture, disasters can happen sometimes – sauces or sticky food accidentally drops on the surface and leaves stains. Now, dry cleaning no longer works, and you will have to use a wet cloth to completely remove the stains. Adding a drop or two of natural dish soap, which can be found in many stores that sell organic stuff, and mixed into a bucket of lukewarm water, together with either sponge or soft cloth – you are ready for those tough stains. With the mild cleaner/detergent you just made, you can lower the possible damage to untreated teak furniture. While wiping off the stains, it is important to dry out the surface with a dry cloth as quickly as possible. Unfinished teak furniture is a raw piece of wood, it must be treated in the most natural ways, to keep its artistic and classic appearance.
By now you should be able to tell if your teak furniture is a varnish finish, based on the early experiment you conduct. Finished teak furniture is like wood coated with a layer of natural oil, for greater and stronger resistance to weather, such as sunlight & moisture. Still, mold and rot can happen if not taken care of properly. Cleaning treated teak furniture is much easier than untreated one since it’s more resilient and resistant in most cases. A piece of microfiber and h20 is all you need to clean your treated teak furniture regularly, and it is probably capable of removing most of the unwanted stains.
If water alone does not work, try a mild soap solution. Always remember to use soft fabric, as opposed to metal brushes; unless you will have starches on the surface – and we bet you don’t. For outdoor teak furniture, you can even rinse off the soap with garden soap. If water or mild soap doesn’t work, it’s time to move to the next alternative. Water mixed with either bleach or vinegar will do the job. You can DIY this ultimate cleaning solution by following either one of the recipes:
- Mix 1 cup for both chlorine bleach and laundry detergent with 1 gallon of lukewarm water.
- Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 gallon of lukewarm water.
Apply the mixture on the problem surface, leave it there for about 15 minutes, and rinse it off thoroughly with clean water. You then can either dry it off with a soft cloth or directly place it under the sun. However, cleaning with any chemical mixture will most likely remove the natural oil built on the surface, leaving the surface with a matte and dull finish; therefore, you will need to apply a new coat of natural oil, if you wish to retain the shiny appearance. All furniture is built and treated slightly different, if you wish to oil the furniture by yourself, it is recommended to consult with the person you got the furniture from or a teak furniture specialist – making sure you are applying the same type of teak oil as it was, since there are many oils available on the market.
Last but not least, always remove and clean off any sauce or sticky liquid as quickly as possible, as the longer it stays, the harder it is to remove. You can even place a piece of cloth under the plate for a teak made dining table, for preventing problems. Also, the cleaning process should always begin from the bottom, to avoid any streak marks from the dripping water on the unwashed surface, especially furniture with irregular shapes and designs.
