Teak Furniture Refinishing
Among all the available types of furniture in the market today, teak furniture is by far the best. Teak wood is one of the rarest, yet more resistant types of woods there are. In addition, it has a beautiful natural honey color that is very appreciated by lovers of wood furniture. All of these qualities have made teak wood a kind of status symbol.
Although teak furniture can be used both inside and outside the house, it’s specially great at outdoor use. It has a natural resistance to weather, and it can be left outside all year long without a worry. It won’t deteriorate like other woods, it won’t get hot, like iron, and it won’t break down, like plastic. In fact, unless you want a specific look or color, teak furniture is practically maintenance free.
First of all, teak furniture refinishing has to be done by speeding or slowing down the natural color change process of teak wood. There is no point in teak furniture refinishing that involves any other color, and it will result in just a waste of good furniture.
The easiest method of teak furniture refinishing consists in speeding the color changing process of the wood. Teak wood will naturally change color when exposed to the sun. This process consists in letting teak furniture in direct sunlight for as long as possible, instead of keeping it under a roof. Sunlight causes teak wood to become gray or silver. Many people dislike this look and protect their furniture from the sun, however, teak furniture refinishing by sunlight is done for people who are looking to have this look, usually because they are adding metal furniture to the mix, or because gray and silver look much better in the surroundings than brown. This method of teak furniture refinishing is sometimes called patina.
The other method of teak furniture refinishing consists of doing exactly the opposite: giving extra protection to the teak furniture from the sun. This method of teak furniture refinishing required for the owner to apply teak sealer to the furniture. Teak sealer will protect the wood from sunlight, by applying UV filters. The result will be that instead of whitening and becoming silvery gray, teak wood will become dark brown.
One last thing, never apply varnish to teak furniture. This method of teak furniture refinishing will only damage the wood, as it prevents it from releasing its natural oils, creating bubbles and cracks that will require a lot of sanding to fix. Given that teak furniture is not cheap, this can really hurt your pocket if the damage is permanent. Instead, use a bit of sealer, which lets wood breath normally.