How to Clean and Care for Teak Outdoor Furniture

How to Clean and Care for Teak Outdoor Furniture: Oil or Silver

By Alexandra PetterssonReviewed by Alexander TjernströmUpdated 6 October 2026

Short answer

Treatment: none needed
Untreated: silver-grey
Oiled: every year

Teak needs no treatment to last outdoors. Left alone it weathers to an even silver-grey. Oil keeps the honey colour, but then you oil it every year. Wash it in spring with water and a soft brush.

Teak is the garden wood that does not need you. Its natural oils keep water out, so it does not rot or crack the way most timber does outside. What changes is the colour: within a season in sun and rain, honey-brown turns silver-grey. That is not damage. This guide is the choice between silver and honey, how to clean teak, and what to look for in the frame underneath it.

Silver or honey?

Silver is the low-effort choice. Do nothing and the surface greys evenly. The wood underneath is unchanged.

Honey means teak oil or a teak protector once a year, in spring, on clean, dry wood. Miss a year and it greys unevenly. Choose one route and stay with it.

How do I clean teak?

Once a year, in spring: water, a little mild soap, a soft brush along the grain. Rinse and let it dry in the sun.

No pressure washer: it tears the soft grain out and leaves the surface rough. Bird droppings and pollen come off easier if you rinse them the same week.

How do I restore weathered teak?

Grey teak is weathered, not damaged: the colour change sits on the surface. To bring the honey colour back, wash it with water, a little mild soap and a soft brush along the grain, then let it dry fully in the sun.

Sand lightly along the grain to open the surface, then apply teak oil or a teak protector. From then on, oil it once a year in spring, or let it go silver again. Skip the pressure washer at every step: it tears out the soft grain.

Can teak stay outside in winter?

Yes. Lift it off wet ground or grass so the feet are not standing in water, and use a breathable cover if you want it cleaner in spring. Never wrap it in plastic sheeting: trapped damp is the one thing teak dislikes.

Bring olefin cushions indoors for the winter.

What about the frame?

Hedvig and Signe sit on black powder-coated stainless steel, which is what keeps a frame from rusting where the paint is knocked. When you buy any teak furniture, ask what is under the paint. Plain steel rusts at the first chip, and the rust stains the teak.

Wipe the frame with a damp cloth in spring and check the bolts.

Which pieces are teak?

Bar stools Saga, Per and Otto. Dining chairs Signe and Edith. Lounge chair Arvid and the Bazo lounger. Bench Hedvig. Lounge table Algot. The teak is A-grade plantation teak, bought as FSC-certified timber.

Pick silver or honey, then leave it alone

Clean: spring, soft brush
Never: pressure washer, plastic sheet
Frame: stainless under the paint

Teak lasts outside untreated and turns silver-grey. Oil every year if you want honey. Wash in spring, no pressure washer, no plastic sheeting. Ask for stainless steel under the paint. Welded in Sweden, 10-year warranty.