The difference that matters is not the colour or the price tag but rust, weight and joints. The table puts the five frames you will meet side by side.
Is steel or aluminium better for garden furniture?
Stainless steel, if the furniture stays out all year and should stay where you put it. Aluminium, if you move it often and carry it in for winter.
| Frame | Rust | Weight | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel, powder-coated | Does not rust through a chip | Heavy, steady in wind | Bolted joints on some makes |
| Plain steel, powder-coated | Rusts where the coat chips | Heavy, steady in wind | Chips at the feet and joints |
| Aluminium tube | Does not rust | Light, easy to carry | Moves in a gust, thin tube dents |
| Cast aluminium | Does not rust | Heavier than tube | Coat flaking where it is knocked |
| Wrought or cast iron | Rusts where the paint breaks | Very heavy | Repainting, rust marks on paving |
Does aluminium garden furniture rust?
No. Aluminium does not rust the way steel does. Where its coating is damaged it forms a dull white oxide instead, which looks worse than it is.
Its real strength is weight: light to carry onto the lawn, light to stack in a shed. Its weakness is the same weight. An aluminium chair or lounger can move in a gust that a steel one ignores, and thin tube dents. On an exposed terrace or a high balcony, weight is a feature, not a flaw.
Stainless or powder-coated steel: what is the difference?
Powder coating is the finish; stainless is the metal under it. A powder coat is sprayed on as a dry powder and baked into a hard layer, explained in powder-coated steel. On plain steel, that coat is all that stands between the metal and the rain, so rust starts wherever it chips: the feet, the joints, the edge a chair knocks.
Stainless steel under the same coat does not rust through a chip. Our outdoor frames are EN 10088 stainless steel, grade 1.4306 (AISI 304L), powder-coated black. It is not the marine grade 316, so near the sea, rinse salt off now and then. Two honest exceptions: the Arvid lounge chair and the outdoor Anton and Leo tables are powder-coated steel, finished for outdoor use, not stainless.
Why weld instead of bolt?
Because bolts loosen. A garden frame warms in the sun and cools at night all summer, and every cycle works a bolted joint a little looser. A welded joint has nothing to work loose.
Our dining chairs, bar stools, the Diana garden, Anton and Leo tables and the Bazo lounger have welded frames, made in Sweden. The Hedvig bench is the flat-pack exception: eight bolts with the slats already fitted, worth a check each spring. Whatever metal you buy, look at the joints before the finish.
What about wrought iron?
Wrought and cast iron are the classic heavy garden furniture: very stable, often ornate. Iron rusts wherever the paint breaks, so it needs repainting to stay sound, and rust can stain the paving underneath.
We make no iron furniture. If you like its weight and permanence, a welded stainless steel frame gives you the stability with far less upkeep.
How do I look after a metal frame?
Wipe it with a damp cloth and a little mild soap in spring and autumn, then dry it. No abrasive pads and no solvents: they dull the coat. Check the feet and the welds, where water sits longest.
Touch up chips: on plain steel and iron to stop rust, on stainless steel to keep it looking new. The full routine for every material is in how to clean garden furniture.
Which metal is right for you?
- Stays out all year, in wind: stainless steel, powder-coated.
- Carried in every autumn: aluminium.
- Heavy and ornate, and you will repaint it: iron.
- Plain painted steel: only if you will touch up every chip.
Stainless to stay out, aluminium to carry
- Our frames
- 1.4306 stainless
- Joints
- welded
- Care
- damp cloth, touch up chips
