Let’s start with a quick question, do you love buying a whole new set of garden furniture every 4 or 5 years?

Of course not, yet many people treat their furniture set exactly like this is the case, which is to say they don’t treat it at all. Whilst teak is known for its lifelong durability, it can always do with a little extra help to keep in tip-top condition. The secret to maintaining your teak furniture is to care for it much like you’d care for a cat. It might spend most of its time outside, but that doesn’t mean you get away without giving it any loving attention.

If you expect your honey-gold teak furniture to host your sunlit, family-filled garden parties every year then you have to give it some teak furniture care.

So avoid these 5 teak maintenance mistakes to ensure your teak furniture set’s beauty lasts a lifetime.

1. Buying C-Grade Teak

C-Grade Teak

This list begins before you even own a furniture set. The single biggest factor in determining the durability of your furniture set is the quality of wood it’s made with. Makes sense doesn’t it?

You may think you’re getting a great deal, but many manufacturers secretly use B/C-grade teak in order to cut costs and move more stock; you end up paying a bigger price in the end. At Corido, we source our sustainable grade-A teak from Perum Perhutani in the island of Java, which is subject to the strictest quality regulations to ensure you only only get the highest quality, grade-A teak furniture.

2. Not Knowing How to Clean it Correctly

Cleaning your furniture might seem obvious, but how well are you cleaning it?. Here’s the thing, a mild hose down once a year isn’t doing the trick. You no doubt know that not all dirt and grime is visible to the human eye, so you’ll need to get more thorough with your furniture cleaning.


A bucket of warm soapy water and a sponge will do the trick to dislodge most hard-to-see specks, though a specialised teak cleaner would give a more polished finish. We recommend Teak Care Cleaner once a year for the deepest possible clean and less frustration in the long run keeping your teak furniture care simple.

3. Forgetting About it Over Winter

Teak bench

As we said before, teak is amongst the most durable of woods in any season, but that’s not to say it will stay in peak condition against other abusive forces. A big mistake is to let your beautiful teak furniture set get bombarded by acidic bird droppings and destructive wood mites, amongst other insects.

We’d recommend either storing your furniture set away over the winter months or shielding it from these intruders with a waterproof patio set cover until spring to give the utmost teak furniture care.

Additionally, use a quality Teak Patinizer to prevent the growth of algae and fungi.

4. Not Shielding its Natural Oils

Teak naturally has a high oil content. You can thank these oils for giving it the attractive qualities such as look, feel and durability we appreciate in our teak furniture.

However, even these oils become depleted over time. For proper maintenance it’s best you prevent the wood’s natural oils from leaving in the first place, rather than restoring them with synthetic canned substances. You wouldn’t strip your hair of its natural oils in favour of bottled stuff, so why your bench?  

Tip: Avoid teak oil. Dirt and grime often sticks to the surface of the oil, causing your lovely golden teak furniture to adopt a dark, blackish nature. Not beautiful.

You should skip teak oil if you want to keep your teak furniture stunning, buttery-looking and strong. For simple and easy teak furniture care, we recommend this water-based Teak Protector which maintains your furniture’s colour up to 4x as long as teak oils.

5. Ketchup, Red Wine and Ash, No Problem

If you frequently find yourself hosting the annual neighbourhood BBQ, you’ll know all about the dangers faced by your pristine teak furniture. Everything from waste and spillages to crayon stains can be avoided with the right teak furniture care precautions.

Now whilst you can’t ask your guests not to use your furniture, you can protect it from garden party fallout with a quality teak sealer, such as this Teak Sealer Shield.

No more sanding away grease stains on teak tables, simply use teak sealer shield and wipe your protected furniture with a damp cloth and it’ll be as pristine as the day you got it.

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