Thursday, June 11, 2009

A Long Life for Your Teak Furniture

If you’re planning to invest in some teak furniture for your patio, you’ll want to get the best use you can from it, right? Teak is a popular hardwood for outdoor furniture because it’s naturally very durable. Nevertheless, you can take several precautions to encourage a long life for your teak furniture.

You can do a few basic things that you might do for any outdoor furniture. Cover it or move it inside during extremely wet or harsh weather, or during any extended period when you’re not using your teak furniture. Clean your furniture before storing it or covering it for extended periods.

You don’t need any special cleaners for your teak furniture. Just mix a little mild detergent or dish soap with water. Scrub with a non-abrasive cloth or sponge. Never use abrasive compounds or cleaners on your teak furniture because these can damage the natural finish. Rinse all traces of soap away.

Some owners prefer to treat their teak furniture with teak oil as a method of preventive maintenance. Teak oil is the natural substance that teak wood produces. You rub this extra oil on the surface of your furniture to enhance the oil already in the wood.

You can also sand natural teak down a little. In this case, you want to rub a fine sandpaper lightly in the same direction as the wood’s grain. Sanding a removes a slight outer layer to reveal a fresh layer beneath.

0 comments: