Darth,
I would check into the "sealer". From what I know of Teak it is similar to Cedar (only Teak is a hard wood which is better)And these types need to breath, so Sealer (maybe your just using the wrong name) would not be good. There are special Teak oils on the market, I think the Depot even carries it. It would require a re-coat every year or two to maintain the warm tones. If not oiled, over time Teak will turn grey (which is actually quite nice) Because teak is a hard wood it will not split as much as Cedar, if at all...

Poppyluv, grey is okay. It would probably look nicer than that light gold color which is what the new teak looks like. So the teak oil is only to maintain the original color, not to help protect it against rotting or splitting? Good thing to know, because I'm all for the "don't make work for myself" approach! If it's not required for preservation but only for color, then I say "go grey"!

Thanks!

I googled EAK+CARE and came up with this site that might answer most of your questions.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Teak care

I have a friend whose company builds and imports teak furniture from Indonesia--David Smith Company, they're on the web. I have a large outdoor table and about 10 deck chairs. I even have a large chair made from teak roots. All of it stays out year round. Here's what I've learned...

You either oil them, or you let them go natural and silver. Both ways look nice, so it's more about realistically assessing you personal energy level. If you know eventually you'll stop the oiling, don't bother in the first place, just let them silver.

How often you oil depends on your location, sun exposure and rain. If they're out in full sun and you have a wet winters, figure on 2 coats a year. If it's full sun and little rain, figure 3--to keep them "catalog" pretty. If you cover them in the winter, or they're under a roof, you'll need to oil less.

You can start oiling and then stop, and the teak will eventually silver off, it will just take a little longer. You can go silver and then oil, but it will take many, many coats to bring back the color, and it will never be as good as if you started oiling from day one. If you oil, get a guality teak oil. The box store stuff is typically poor quality oil.

My root chair, in full sun and 36" of rain annually, has been sitting on bare dirt for 3 years. It doesn't have any black spots or rot. Also, teak grain doesn't raise, or crack with this kind exposure. It's as smooth as the day I bought it. If it's ever rough, a quick pass with some fine sand paper clears that right up...assuming I haven't been oiling, which I don't. (Also a good trick to remove the occasional drink stain.)

Teak comes in various grades. Higher grades have uniform color and are darker in color. Lesser grades have uneven color and often have reddish streaks through the wood, (this comes from excess iron in the soil). My experience has been that my chairs, made from the lesser grade, will get black spots if left exposed all winter--although I live in a very wet climate. A quick scrub with a light bleach solution and sanding in the spring cleans it right up. But considering I get these chairs for $25 on sale, compared to $150 for the high grade, it's a small inconvenience.

Teak is well worth it. It will last forever.

Hey Rick, thanks for all the info which I've printed out. We did go ahead and order the teak furniture last week. Looking forward to getting it, as they didn't have the pieces in stock at the store. Smith & Hawken calls their stuff "Premium Teak" and says "We begin with environmentally farmed plantation teak from the island of Java" and "We handpick our trees and select only the very highest grade of heartwood  "clear heart, no defects"  often called Grade A, First European Quality. We insist on straight, true grain for its resistance to cracking and splitting. The wood is kiln-dried for months to reduce its moisture content, eliminating shrinkage or expansion that could stress joints. We specify only traditional wood joinery, including mortises and tenons that lock together like interlaced fingers and wooden dowels that expand in place to hold sections secure. This way, the finished furniture can expand and contract in response to weather conditions without stressing joints."

So unless all that is total marketing hype, it sounds like it should be good stuff.

I'm lazy, so thanks for the input on oiling. I won't start, because I know I won't want to be saddled with that job twice or even once a year!

Smith & Hawken also sells teak maintenance products including a Teak Cleaner (" To restore teak to its original color, our Cleaner whisks away mildew spots and dirt as it brightens the surface to a honey tone.") which doesn't sound like something we'd want to use, if we want to keep the silvered color. But confusingly they also sell something called a Patinizer ("Or to maintain teakÂs weathered look, our new Patinizer keeps the grey a silvery hue. Water-based for easy cleanup.") Not sure whether the intention is to clean the teak back to a honey color and then put Patinizer on to bring it back to grey? Sounds weird to me. I think a better plan is to do what you do (light bleach solution) if any black spots (I guess that's mildew?) ever show up.

Thanks!

We happen to like the look of new teak, and we found that a wire brush soaked in CLR will clean the gray away. We then let it dry, apply teak oil. And it looks like new! CLR is magic stuff!

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