Cleaning old teak

[Rob G]

I'm restoring a folding garden bench that came from my grandparents and is probably 1930's vintage or earlier.

I'm well aware that I shouldn't remove the patina it has but I've had to sand it lightly all over to remove the lichen that is on it. The seat is thinnish teak strips and they've all had to be replaced.

Do I need to wash the wood with something to remove the rest of the lichen which is in cracks, etc.,(ie some of the wood still looks slightly green), or will a good quality teak wood treatment deal with that?

Thanks Rob

[Andy Dingley]

Decking cleaners are a mix of oxalic acid bleach / algicide and a detergent. They're a good start on this. I wouldn't expect to ever restore teak to "as new", as the silvering of old teak is part of its behaviour and putting it back to brown would need something quite artificial doing to it over the top.

Try Organoil for a nice finish on posh bare-wood garden furniture. Not many good indoor oils are really up to this sort of outdoor use, and the DIY-barn brands are very low quality.

[robgraham]

Thanks Andy for your help Do I take it then that teak oil is the wrong finish to apply ?

The wood was sanded back as far as necessary to clean off loose matter and avoid losing the patina. I've had to replace all the seat slats with new wood and recycle a couple of the recovered ones into the back panel.

Rob

[Andy Dingley]

Teak oil is generally a non film-forming oil, which means it has little weather resistance. OTOH, it's hard to find a film-forming oil that does have good UV resistance (i.e. an outdoor grade oil). Organoil seems to be good for high-quality outdoor woodwork, such as garden furniture.

A lot of "teak oil" is also _very_ expensive. Sold through the DIY barns in tiny bottles for high prices. Looking at litres and upwards from a real toolshop goes further.