How to Restore Teak Furniture
Wondering how to restore old teak furniture? Don’t miss this step by step tutorial for refinishing teak outdoor furniture.
We recently found a used outdoor teak dining set. It was the perfect size for one of the outdoor spaces in our backyard, but it had been neglected for the past 10 years or so. Fortunately, with a little elbow grease and the right products, outdoor teak furniture can be brought back to its former glory!
I first designed our outdoor dining space about five years ago, shortly after we moved into this home. The location of the dining area has been perfect. But the synthetic furniture we used did not hold up to the climate of our brutal Texas summers. So we’ve been on the hunt for some real teak wood furniture for our little backyard oasis.
What we finally found started like this: weathered gray teak in desperate need of some restoration.
Fortunately, teak is naturally weather resistant, and top grade teak can last for years with the proper care. Also let me admit, refinishing teak furniture is not for the faint of heart… But oh, is it ever worth it!
How to Restore Teak Furniture
Restoring teak furniture is definitely more work than spray painting outdoor furniture. Or repainting wooden outdoor furniture. Or even repainting rusty metal furniture, for that matter (all wonderful projects to refresh your patio furniture!). But high quality materials like real teak furniture are worth restoring and protecting.
Here is what you’ll need:
- real teak wood furniture
- drop cloths, plastic, or tarps to protect the ground
- teak wood cleaner + scour pads or soft scrubbing brush
- hose with spray nozzle
- pressure washer (optional)
- palm or orbital sander with varying grits of sandpaper (optional, depends on how weathered/damaged your teak furniture is)
- teak protector + rubber gloves + rags
How to Clean Teak Furniture
The first step, of course, is to clean your teak patio furniture. For most outdoor items, I simply pull out my pressure washer. But I have read that using a pressure washer on teak is not recommended because it can strip it of its natural high oil content, which is one of the things that makes teak such a durable, outdoor wood.
Instead, it is best to use a teak cleaner. You simply wet the piece, apply the cleaner, wait a few minutes, then scrub the wood with a scour pad or soft bristle brush. (Note: do not use something hard like a metal brush or steel wool). When you then spray with clean water, the removal of dirt, grime, mold, and even some of the gray color of the aged teak is really spectacular.
However, our teak furniture was so weathered that even after cleaning, the wood felt uneven and needed a really good sanding to smooth it out. For the teak table, I cleaned about a third of it and then gave up and decided to simply sand off all the dirt, grime, and grayed wood. And it worked great! But it was a ton of work.
For the chairs, I could not imagine sanding every single surface well enough to remove all that gray wood, so I decided to break the rule on teak and pressure wash them. The key is to keep the pressure washer on the gentlest setting and not get too close to the wood. I still wet the wood, applied the cleaner, and waited a few minutes… but instead of scrubbing the wood, I sprayed it off with the pressure washer.
And voila! The dining arm-chairs and side chairs still needed a light sanding, but it was a much quicker process than the table had been. I am hoping that in the future (with better upkeep), a simple cleaning according to the package directions will work better.
How to Protect Teak Furniture
Now that the wood was nice and smooth, it was ready to be protected. I actually loved the look of the natural teak, but I wasn’t about to have to repeat the sanding process every year!
To protect your teak furniture, you do not use teak oil! Wait…. what??
That’s what I said: do not use teak oil. Most “teak oils” on the market are actually a range of products from mineral oil to linseed oil to varnish. While this can rejuvenate the look of thirsty wood, it does not actually help real teak furniture.
Real teak has the high natural oil content that it needs to thrive outdoors… It just needs something to protect those oils and minimize the moisture that can get trapped in the wood. Teak sealers or teak protector like this are actually the better choice. Fortunately, they’re also easy to apply.
I wore rubber gloves and used a soft cloth to apply the teak protector. As you can see, this particular protector has some color to it. It did add warmth and darken the finish a bit, but the wood grain is still easy to see.
Now, two (very wet) months later, the furniture still looks brand new. No graying or mildew growth in sight.
I can’t believe this is the same furniture!
Teak Furniture Care
Moving forward, my plan is to apply the teak protector once a year (it really is as simple as wiping on the water-based liquid) and to clean the dining table and chairs with the teak cleaner every two years, which is what the products recommend.
I’m hoping that regular care like that will remove the need for the intense sanding I had to do this time to restore the teak furniture, but only time will tell.
What do you think? Are you ready to try to restore some old teak furniture? Whether you have teak benches, coffee tables, lounge chairs, sofas, outdoor dining tables, or even just a side table, I hope this tutorial gives you all you need to restore them to their former glory.
Be sure to pin this for the instructions!
That looks beautiful! May I ask where you purchased your black umbrella?
Thank you so much! I actually got it from Walmart (affiliate link here). I’m super impressed with the quality, especially for less than $50. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Greetings from Australia! Love what you did with your teak chairs but we stick with the plastic Adirondack chairs. WHY? Because our giant Huntsman spiders (they starred in Arachnapphobia) don’t like plastic so there is less chance of sitting down and finding one in your lap! Your website is great.
Sue, How scary! I can see why you opted for plastic in this case. 🙂
I have just had my Cardiologist tell me my heart is bombproof, but if one of those things touched me – BYE!
Same! I wouldn’t be a fan. 🙂
I had applied teak oil to my bench rocker, it was a tacky mess!! Your post came just in time to restore my teak rockers. I followed your directions and they look great:) But I do need to strip the bench rocker,lol. That may wait until next year.
Awesome, Suzanne! I’m glad you found a good solution to restore your rockers.
Hi!
Can you relink the team protector? The Amazon links aren’t working for me. Thank you!
Hi Kendall, I’m so sorry you’re having trouble! Can you try this link: amzn.to/3cky45Z I hope this works for you!
Thank you for the tutorial! I used your guidance and these products and we restored a table purchased on Facebook marketplace to absolute beauty!!
Hi Ali! Oh, I’m so glad! I’m glad you like the results.
Hi Rachel!
Thank you for all these helpful tips! I’m thinking of investing in teak now – do you think it’s enough to seal the teak once a year to retain its original color?
The sealer I have actually recommends doing it two times per year. I ‘m afraid I haven’t hd mine long enough to confirm from personal experience yet, but it does seem like twice a year would suffice since it’s been 6 months since we did ours and it has only faded minimally. It’s on my list to reapply soon! 🙂
Hi! How many bottles of teal protector did you need to complete the project?
I just used about half of one bottle. I hope this helps!
What brand of teak protector did you use
Hi Coleen, I used this product (affiliate): https://amzn.to/3oqWgwg
P hi there thank you so much for this post! Do you think you can get away with a RAW teak if your furniture is under a covered patio all year?
I think you’d be ok under a covered patio! Sometimes rain comes in sideways from storms, so make sure you treat it if that’s an issue.