How to Clean and Maintain Teak Shower Furniture

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Teak wood furniture is an excellent choice to spruce up your indoor or outdoor shower area. A combination of a small shower bench or Asian style shower stool with a teak floor mat will give your bath space an elegant touch—like having a luxury spa in your own home.

Not only are these items attractive, but they are quite useful as well. Having a place to sit down in the shower can make many tasks easier—from scrubbing your toes to shampooing long hair. When you buy a great teak shower bench, it really does add a lot to the look and feel of your bathroom.

Teak is a superior wood for the bathroom because it is naturally water resistant, but some degree of cleaning and maintenance is still required to keep your shower furniture looking beautiful for years to come.



Clean Teak Shower Furniture Regularly

Your teak shower bench and floor mat are going to need cleaning on a regular basis to prevent a buildup of soap scum. It is only natural that some soap residue will collect over time on any object left in the shower, especially small furniture items that you sit or stand on while you rinse soap off your body.

You don’t necessarily need any special materials to clean your shower furniture. A little bit of everyday dishwashing liquid and a soft-bristled scrub brush will work. Simply add a few drops of dish soap to warm water and gently scrub the surface of your teak shower items with this solution. Make sure to scrub the underside of the furniture as well.

For superior cleaning power, however, you may wish to try out a dedicated teak cleaner and brightener product.

How to Keep that Brand New Look

Most of the teak shower furniture sold today comes with a coating of teak oil or light stained finish already applied. The color will eventually fade over time, so you may want to reapply a coat of teak oil every few months or so. We normally discourage the use of teak oil on outdoor furniture, but the wood used in shower furniture is usually a lower grade of teak that benefits more from applying oil.

Apply a teak oil after you’ve cleaned the furniture and allowed it time to dry. Using a sponge or cloth rag, rub a small amount of oil onto the surface of the wood following the direction of the grain.

When the entire surface has been coated, wipe up any excess oil. Then give it about one day to dry before using again. Don’t leave any oil-soaked rags crumpled up after use, as this can be a fire hazard. You should soak them in water and then dispose of them.

If you don’t mind a faded gray color, then it’s not necessary to treat your teak shower furniture with oil. A regular cleaning to remove soap scum should be sufficient.

Tip for Maintaining Teak Shower Benches

Teak wood is resistant to water damage—that is why it is used for boat decking—but that doesn’t mean you should leave standing water to pool on the wood’s surface.

After use, you should first rinse briefly with plain water to prevent soap buildup and then wipe any standing water off the surface of your teak shower bench and mat to increase the longevity of the wood and the finish.

As you can see, just a small amount of effort on your part will help make your furniture items look their best. When your environment looks good, you will feel good—that’s a small secret to having a happy life in this crazy world.