cleaning teak garden furniture

[stef]

i have a set of garden furniture (table + 6 chairs) which i am struggling to keep clean. I oil it now and then, but it keeps on getting grey.
yesterday, i spent 2hours with the ROS to get the table clean and i manage to clean one chair as well in those 2 hours.
i oiled the two. i have 5 chairs left to do, and dont look forward at the prospect of spending hours sanding them down.
is there an easier way to get them clean ? (i tried those special chemicals supposed to remove the grey mushrooms..didnt work that well)

 

[OPJ]

I've had excellent results with this stuff on what might be teak furniture. After two coats, the wood was looking incredibly clean. A few fresh coats of oil and the bench was almost as good as new!

Sanding isn't always the answer and it's very easy to alter the shape of some of the components, in my experience.

 

[TheTiddles]

A pressure washer will remove most of the grime and make it look a load better, not as good as a complete sand back but good for the couple of times a year job

Aidan

 

[woodbloke]

This is a classic case of the sisyphus syndrome...you can keep putting on whatever you like and it will always eventually turn a silver grey. Give it a good blast with a jet washer to get all the crud off and then live with it, IMO of course :wink: - Rob

 

[stef]

thanks folks.
after a little research, which i should have done first, it appears that a two step process consisting of alkaline than acid, would work out.
so a good clean with bleach first, then some acid.
TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) would seem to work as well...
I will try the house hold bleach approach tonight, and let you know.
But i agree...sanding is not the solution.
http://www.articlealley.com/article_13606_27.html

 

[wizer]

Rob's right, you're fighting a losing battle. You'll be doing this twice a year at great expense of time and money.

 

[stef]

Rob's right, you're fighting a losing battle. You'll be doing this twice a year at great expense of time and money.

yes, i am with you, but then again, mowing the lawn is also a loosing battle.
twice a year is fine, as long as it doesnt take me 4 hours, and as long as i dont sand it down, or else after 4 years, i wont have any furniture left !

 

[wizer]

To be fair, I was probably advised the same when I did it and I wouldn't listen. Life's full of these little lessons. Have fun.

 

[stef]

To be fair, I was probably advised the same when I did it and I wouldn't listen. Life's full of these little lessons. Have fun.

cheers.

well, i tried...
for 2 years, i have been trying to live with the teak without taking great care of it.
and to be honest, every 6 months, i get upset just looking at it !
so i conclude that i cannot live with it this way.
in the same way that i cannot live with the overgrown garden. the lawn takes me 2 hours every week between april and september, so i dont mind spending 2h every 6 months on the furniture !
i just need a easier, less harmull solution for me and the table than to sand it down to get it clean.

 

[Ross K]

I did 20 years in the yacht coatings industry which included cleaning products. In the average yacht chandlery you will find teak cleaners, restorers and oils. The restorers are basically a strong alkaline solution and they really do work. Scrub them in with a hard brush.

Our company used to sell alot of these products especially in Scandinavia but in most markets the people who owned boats with teak decks preferred to just let them go silver grey rather than spend time keeping the wood grain colour.

 

[stef]

I did 20 years in the yacht coatings industry which included cleaning products. In the average yacht chandlery you will find teak cleaners, restorers and oils. The restorers are basically a strong alkaline solution and they really do work. Scrub them in with a hard brush.

Our company used to sell alot of these products especially in Scandinavia but in most markets the people who owned boats with teak decks preferred to just let them go silver grey rather than spend time keeping the wood grain colour.

i tried the bleach (that's alkaline, right ?) last night, and it did seem to work. i had to scrub them hard, and i can see where the remaining protecting oil prevented the bleach from doing it's work, but overall, this might be the solution.
I worked as harbour master for a few years, so i have seen my shares of dirty decks (erm..)
they are acceptable on boats, altough a good clean really makes the boat look like new. for a table, i prefer a nice clean look though. that's were we have lunch...