To keep teak patio furniture looking fantastic for many years, use a teak protector once a year. One of the very best available is Golden Care Teak Protector. It applies very easily with the lint free application cloth that comes with the bottle. You should wait until new teak furniture has faded color slightly to become a pale yellow before applying a protector for the first time.
Clean your outdoor teak furniture well before using teak protector. Golden Care also makes a 2-in-1 teak cleaner and brightener which works very well.
This product is a water-based formula that works to maintain the original color of teak wood by protecting it from the oxidization process. Usually, freshly cut teak wood (if it is good quality) will have a strong golden color due to the presence of natural protective oils. But as the wood is exposed to the air a weathering process occurs that results in a fade to more of a gray color.
Cleaning the wood will temporarily restore some of the color through the action of scrubbing. While sanding the wood will completely restore the original color. Both will only result in a temporary improvement, however, and the fading process will kick in again. To really slow the fading to a near crawl, a protector or sealer is your best friend.
You want to apply just enough teak protector to coat the surface of the wood. Less is better, but make sure that you get every surface including between slats of chairs and benches.
A deep cleaning along with an application of Golden Care Protector can restore and maintain the honey color of teak. If you really want to bring out the color of your teak furniture to a greater degree, you can give it a light sanding before applying the teak protector. However, this is not necessary in most cases. A good cleaning followed by an application of protector will have your old teak furniture looking almost like new. If you do decide to sand, make certain that you’ve wiped down the surface of your teak furniture thoroughly before applying teak protector to remove any dust.
Use once a year for best results.
