I don't know how i got to this thread lol I was looking up how to set up grow lights. Anyway, mislabeling is a constant source of irritation to me so I will pick this subject up even if it is a tad late. For starters, if you bought your outdoor teak chair for less than, say, $800, that is more likely to be cedar with teak finish and not real teak. Real teak lumber costs about $40 per board foot. There is no way anyone can make a garden chair with real teak for less than $800-$1000 and that is probably conservative. Second, cans of wipe-on finish sold at big box stores are usually a mixture of varnish, colorants and various other things to speed up drying when applied. Most of these products are conveniently silent on what they actually contain. If your furniture is turning gray over time, it is most likely made of cedar as it is notorious for losing its nice golden color when exposed to the elements. It is in the nature of the tree itself---the same oils that make it impervious to various insects, fungi and what not make it vulnerable to the color alterations caused by exposure to UV light from the sun. Finally, for furniture finish, boiled linseed oil is normally used. It penetrates better and dries much faster. Raw linseed oil takes longer than forever to properly cure and in the meantime you have to protect the piece from various gnats and particles that could land on it and get embedded in the finish. Refined linseed oil, on the other hand, is significantly more expensive because there are extra steps required to make it. It's used mostly in oil painting, it makes pigment flow better and when it dries, the colors are nice and glossy. I think you can cook with linseed oil too. I just haven't done it.

Here's a vote for a teak bench/stool. There was no other option for our first shower - a drop-in neoangle acrylic one. So I got Frontgate's teak stool. That was eleven years ago. It has held up very well. Haven't treated the teak at all and it has weathered to a brownish gray. It is still very smooth and soft. Now we are reno-ing the BR and are building a custom shower. For us it was a no-brainer to keep the stool. There's no doubt the stone benches look very handsome, but my back and tailbone require something softer than stone. Stone also looks like it might be cold and slippery, thought I could be wrong about that. You can either leave the stool in the shower, or, if someone doesn't want to use it, just place it outside while showering. IMO Frontgate offers very nice ones. We paid under $100; they are more spendy now.

I like mine. It's from frongate. It's a corner seat, plenty big and comfy to sit on. We've only had it a year. I read that every so often you should take it outside and powerwash it, but we haven't done that yet. Be sure whatever you buy has adjustable feet because your shower floor is sloped and you will need to fiddle with the feet to make it follow the slope. https://www.frontgate.com/resort-teak-collection/517731?searchTerm=teak+corner+shower+bench For a much smaller shower we got one online from HD. It's more like a shelf to put things on because it's pretty small, but a skinny person could sit on it.

I’m in the “love my bench” crowd. I just remodeled, and adding a bench was high on my list. I use it to out my foot in when I shave or exfoliate my legs and I sit on it to pumice my feet. I also sit on it with the shower off to do my pedicure. It’s a great place to put polish on bc if you drip or spill you just use nail polish remover to clean it up. If you decide to have one, make sure it is allows just a little so the water runs off.