Outdoor Patio Furniture

Teak is a hardwood mainly from Southeast Asia.  It is one of the most popular woods used for vintage outdoor furniture because of its strength, weather resistance, and being pest proof.  It’s so popular that teak is now on the endangered list due to too much foresting of it.  There are three types of teak:  Common, Dahat (from Burma), and Philippine.  This has led to plantation grown hybrid teak that is not as durable as traditional antique teak.  Know the source of the teak furniture before purchasing.

Pure teak does not rot like most other woods.  It is rich in oil and has a good measure of rubber substance.  This combination makes for a natural water repellent material great for outdoor conditions.  Thus, for centuries, teak has been the prime choice in building ships.  Untreated teak will oxidize and turn to a grey silver only with a few months of sunshine but you can coat your pieces with a color guard to help preserve its original golden brown look.  To keep the rich wood look, apply a teak oil every couple of years to rejuvenate its natural oils.    Even if you don’t do anything to it, your wood will not rot.  For your whole life, it will remain a solid strong piece of furniture. 

You can clean teak with a 3 to 1 mixture of laundry detergent and chorine bleach.  Anything stronger can destroy the wood.  Scrub the solution in brushing with the grain.  Give a good rinsing after a few minutes.  Occasionally, mildew can form on your furniture.  A good product to remove mildew is called Jomax.

Teak has become a status symbol of quality outdoor patio furniture.  The major players in the teak outdoor furniture market are Kingsley Bate and Country Casual.  Like wrought iron, quality teak patio furniture requires highly skilled artistic design.

Strength, weather resilience, style, low maintenance, and longevity make teak wood a perfect choice for your outdoor patio.

Country Casual, Inc. – Gaithersburg, Maryland (301) 926-9195

www.countrycasual.com

Over 30 years old – industry leader

High quality English Solid Teak Furniture 

Kingsley-Bate – Manassas, Virginia – (703) 361-7000

www.kingsleybate.com

Another industry leader

Dining and bar sets, benches and swings, lounge and rocking chairs, …

McGuire Furniture Co. – San Francisco, California – (415) 626-1414

www.mcguirefurniture.com

Over 50 years old.  Subsidiary of Kohler Company.

High quality, hand crafted teak designs – very artistic, very detailed

Arthur Lauer Inc. (Wood Classics) – Milford, New York – (614) 799-0144

www.arthurlauer.com

25 year old United States company

Pool, garden, and porch – outdoor living, kitchen, and dining teak furniture

Westminster Teak – Live Oak, Florida – (386) 362-6047

www.westminsterteak.com

Anderson Teak – Chatsworth, California – (888) 775- 8325

www.andersonteak.com

Established in 2000, manufacture headquarters in Java (Indonesia) – They have their own teak plantations

Rock Wood – Oakville, Ontario Canada – (905) 842-6437

www.rockwoodfurniture.com

Outdoor Dining, benches, chaises, and rockers

Barlow Tyrie, Inc

teak.com  (They don’t allow web linking for some reason.) 

London company dating back to 1920.  It was formed by Frederick Barlow and Victor Tyrie. It’s now a 3rd generation company specializing in high quality hand made outdoor furniture.

Rattan is vine like palm from the tropical “A” regions:  Australia, Asia, and Africa.  It is similar to bamboo but the strands are solid.  Its diameter can be up to 3 inches thick.

Wicker is NOT a palm or bamboo but rather a “weaving process” generally using smaller diameter rattan which is easier to weave.  It’s as simple as that.  When I was young, I used to think wicker was the white furniture and rattan was the brown.

In any case, I would advise not to use natural rattan/wicker furniture outdoors.  Instead, purchase vinyl/plastic wicker that will last much longer exposed to outdoor weather.

It never fails, when you go to Cracker Barrel, you always end up sitting awhile in their cozy outdoor rocking chairs even when there is no waiting line.  Rocking chairs have their roots in England but today they are iconic American like baseball and apple pie.

I’ve always had rockers around me.  I had a baby one as a child.  Growing up, our family had an antique indoor one with beautiful arms decorated as swans.  When I was older, I had a big traditional wooden rocker in my living room.  Now, we have an outdoor wrought iron rocking chair on our patio.  All three are nice but I believe my current metal one has been the most comfortable one.

 Here are the styles of rocking chairs out there that are best suited for the outdoors:

 1) Wrought Iron:  This is an elegant choice for your backyard.  Be sure your wrought iron rocker is sealed with a proper rust inhibiting paint to prolong its outdoor life.

 2) Adirondack:  Adirondack furniture is a staple for the outdoors.  It’s best to have these rocking chairs made of Teak or Balau for their weather resistance.

 3) Wicker:  These come in natural wicker and plastic or vinyl wicker.  Natural wicker is delicate because natural rattan is a weak wood.  You’re better off choosing plastic or vinyl wicker for outdoor use because of its strength.  Sure, you lose authenticity going this direction but I bet you after a year outdoor, you would rather have a good looking imitation piece of wicker furniture rather than a weak rotting authentic piece.

 4) Traditional Wooden Rocking Chairs:  Once again, Teak or Balau is your best choice of wood.  However, Cedar is very popular outdoors for that traditional look and feel.  You’ll just need to take better care in preserving it.

 It’s fun shopping for outdoor rocking chairs.  Just looking for one can lower your blood pressure.  So, here’s for finding one and then Happy Rockin’.

Cleaning your wrought iron pieces is generally dog simple.  Mild dishwashing detergent like Joy mixed with water does the trick.  Use with a dampened cloth and maybe a soft toothbrush for all those tight niches. Hose down, dry with a soft cloth, and you’re done.  

Properly preserved wrought iron lasts a lifetime.  However, if your wrought iron patio furniture has been neglected, not having been preserved correctly, rust can develop requiring you to put more effort into getting it looking nice again.  You’ll need to scrub out the rust with steel wool dipped in turpentine or maybe even kerosene.  In the process of removing rust, some paint is likely to come off as well which leads us to the next step. 

To keep you from repeating the rust scrubbing exercise again, you’ll want to seal your wrought iron with a rust preventative paint.  First though, you need to prime the surface with a conversion coat.  You can get this special paint from an auto parts store.  This coating preps the surface so the final paint will adhere to your furniture properly.  It also will turn any left over rust black and stop it from spreading. 

Finally, use rust inhibiting enamel spray paint as a topcoat to bring your wrought iron back to life.  Brush painting is prone to dripping in the many niches wrought iron often has.  It also leaves unwanted stroke marks.  You might want to consider adding a wax coating too for future moisture protection.