Softwood garden furniture

[geraldthehamster]

Hello again

My neighbour was going to burn six sturdy softwood garden chairs, and a table, because they looked manky and he'd bought some new stuff.

Having relieved him of them, I spent two hours with a pressure washer and found some half decent furniture under all the bird sh*t and encrustation.

My question is, what do people think would be best to treat them with so they'll continue to survive? They're not smooth enough to varnish, so I was thinking some kind of oil. Wouldn't hurt if it darkened the colour a bit, as the pressure washer removed quite a lot, but not all, of the original dark stain.

What works best on softwood?

Cheers Richard

[The Medway Handyman]

Coloured wood preserver.

[Frank Erskine]

:-)

[geraldthehamster]

Applied with an angle grinder?

Cheers Richard

[John]

I asked this very same question on the 7th (subject title "Sikkens for garden furniture") and got one 'partly' useful reply but no follow-up to the question it raised, so I tried again on the 12th (subject title "Wood preservative") that got no replies at all - so it's good to see that you've had better luck than me.

Anyway, we went with Sikkens in the end - Cetol HLS Plus basecoat with Cetol Filter 7 Plus as topcoat.

[geraldthehamster]

Thanks. I'll see what my local shed has on the way home from work this afternoon.

Cheers Richard

[geraldthehamster]

It does make you wonder when the hegemony of the white bathroom suite will end, and avocado, orange and burgundy will return to the high street, in a new range of exciting designs.

Cheers Richard

[Peter Johnson]

For Sikkens, which is a specialist high-quality paint, you might have to use a trade outlet.

[John]

Or a proper timber merchant, which is where I got ours.

[NT]

best is creosote. Keep treated wood away from plants for a few weeks though

NT

[geraldthehamster]

I had a good look at all the outdoor wood products on the shelves in B&Q yesterday (yes I know, but it's the only place I can easily get to on the way home from work). Most of the products designed for sheds, fences, etc., by Cuprinol and Ronseal explicitly say they are "not suitable" for garden furniture - I assume because of toxicity.

You can't get creosote any more; there's a substitute called "Creocote".

Cheers Richard

[NT]

one certainly can, it just needs to be for professional use

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Aye, but you wuldn't want to use creosote on furniture, not if you wanted to use it without staining your clothes this year at least...

[geraldthehamster]

OK, I'll rephrase that -"*I* can't get creosote any more". ;-)

If I did want to get creosote, where would I get it and in what quantity would I need to buy it? I could do with some to protect the shed where I keep my sodium chlorate and my lifetime's supply of CFL lightbulbs.

Cheers Richard

[dennis]

No professional would use creosote as a brush on preservative (it doesn't work) and certainly not on furniture.

There are plenty of products for furniture that aren't going to leave you with chemical burns and will still protect the wood better than creosote.

[NT]

doesnt work?

[dennis]

Well it doesn't make the wood last longer than bare wood unless you can pressure impregnate the wood.

What it does do is colour it for a few weeks, kill plants near by, smell, give you chemical burns or worse, stain drives, clothes and anything else. If you want any of these effects it works.

[stuart noble]

And it stinks to high heaven for several days after application. Strange, but women seem to like the smell.

[dennis]

Women wear stuff like crushed testies and moulds.