Have your indoor teak furniture started to lose its alluring glow? Well, if not taken care of properly, you can lose your generation’s old teak furniture.
This is certainly a huge possession loss. So you better concentrate on maintaining your vintage teak furniture.
Wondering what are the steps of refinishing indoor teak furniture?
Refinishing teak wood furniture involves washing off the visible spots using agents. If the upper layer is still damaged, take it off using sandpaper. Then finishing it with oil or lacquer will give your furniture a new shiny look.
That was just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got a lot more to dive into. Stick with us until the end for more insights.
Refinishing Indoor Teak Furniture: Why and When?
Teak wood is one of the most fine-looking exotic wood types. It is very attractive in color and outlook. Their durability has made it immensely popular.
As we know, different woods are best for different uses. For instance, woods that are best suited for basement stairs won’t work fine for furniture making.
Hence, teak wood is used for premium quality indoor furniture like tables, chairs, and even beds.
But it’s quite natural that your teak furniture will leave its vintage elegance behind with time. Hence, you need to treat it accordingly to maintain its splendor appearance.
Well, are you wondering exactly when you should consider rejuvenating your teak wood furniture? Here’s the answer:
- When your furniture turns grey or starts getting a greyish top layer
- There are scratch marks all over the top portion alongside water stains
- If your furniture starts to lose its alluring glow and the topcoat or paint starts wearing off
But will refinishing be the best choice for this situation?
As this confusion is quite common. Let’s just consider whether refinishing or refurbishing is what our situation demands-
Refinishing vs Refurbishing Indoor Teak Furniture
Basically, refurbishing is considered to be a gentler form of refinishing. Refurbishing excludes the wood stripping part. It only includes washing off the surface dust, touching up scratches, and then top coating.
Hence, the question arises that when should we actually refurbish instead of refinishing? To be honest, refurbishing should be considered for rejuvenating before refinishing.
If your surface has stains that the top coating can’t cover, you must refinish it. There are times when you must take the top coat off for a better outlook. Be it removing old masking tape residue or cleaning water stains, washing off doesn’t always help.
This is when refinishing should be your way. Let’s jump into the steps of refinishing then-
3 Steps on Refinishing Indoor Teak Furnitures
As you’ve decided to refinish your indoor teak furniture for a better look. Here we have these 3 steps for you.
Before starting these steps, let’s get prepared by organizing the toolbox.
Tools and Equipment Needed
Here goes the list of things that you’ll need in different steps:
- Washing agents (dishwashing liquid, vinegar, teak cleaner)
- Scrubby pads and brush
- Sanding block or paper
- Teak oil for refinishing
Once you’re ready with all your equipment, you can start refinishing.
Step 1 of 3: Washing Off The Stains And Scratches From The Top Layer
You should always try to protect your teak furniture from stains. If you put plants on it, make sure to put a plate underneath. Don’t let the plants create water stains on it.
But if you still have marks and damages on the wood, what should you do? You must wash the upper layer to remove it.
For washing purpose, you can use any of the below-mentioned cleaners as per your availability:
- Light dishwashing soap: 6 drops of liquid gel for every 2 cups of water.
- Vinegar mixture: mix one cup of vinegar with one gallon of water.
- Using teak cleaner will be absolutely perfect in this regard.
Even after washing the top layer properly, some marks will remain there. That’s why we’ll sand the upper layer after cleaning it.
Extra tip: Don’t use any variety of abrasive cleaning products while cleaning your furniture surface.
Step 2 of 3: Stripping The Wood For a Smooth Upper Portion
Cleaning your surface off should remove the visible marks. Some marks won’t get away with soap treatment. That’s when you’ll need to use sandpaper to take the upper layer off.
But don’t put too much pressure during this process. That can damage the entire furniture. Try to use the sandpaper lightly and carefully. Fine-grained, 400-grit sandpapers should work fine for this purpose.
Still, you must do some calculations, and consider some criteria before picking the sandpaper.
Once you’re done sanding, start the oiling part. This will bring the glimmer back.
Step 3 of 3: Coating It With Oil
Your teak wood surface is now ready for the final touch of oil coating.
For dry and grey teak furniture, oil can fill out the pores of the wood. This gives it a smooth finish.
Now the question arises, which oil should you use? Well, teak oil will be the best in this regard. It contains lemon, walnut, and linseed oils. Moreover, it’s thinner which makes it more perfect for top coating.
But oil treatment might absorb your teak wood’s natural moisture. Hence it can affect your furniture in the long run.
To prevent this, make sure your oil doesn’t contain silicone and is non-toxic in nature. Your best choice would be oils that are branded for Scandanavian indoor furniture.
Another thing, don’t forget to wear gloves before oiling your furniture.
Now that you know a wide variety of oils are available. Getting confused about which one you should choose is understandable. That’s why we’ve added our desired teak oils:
| Product 1 | |
| Product 2 |
Just grab one to give your furniture a new look. Moreover, don’t forget to give your final oil layer at least 24 hours to dry up.
That’s all from our side. Hope these will help you to perfectly refinish teak wood furniture.
FAQs
Question: How long does teak furniture last?
Answer: Teak furniture is highly popular around the world because of its beauty and durability. This furniture can last up to 100 years or more. They can last at least 75 years with very little maintenance.
Question: How can you tell if furniture is teak?
Answer: You can use the grains to determine if it’s a piece of teak furniture. Normally teak has straight grains, with some rare Indian wavy grains. But the most noticeable tack feature is its yellowish bronze heartwood or whitish sapwood.
Question: Do termites eat teak wood?
Answer: Termites mostly attack and eat sapwood-made furniture. As most teak woods are made from heartwood, the chances of termites decreases. Still, it would be wise to take some precautions in this regard.
Take Away
Now it’s time to part our ways. Hopefully, this clears out your confusion. You must have got a basic idea about refinishing indoor teak furniture from this read.
Try to avoid bleach or similar products from cleaning the furniture. That can fade the glow.
Enjoy refinishing your vintage furniture. Good luck to you from us!