OS ways of looking after hardwood garden furniture...

rainbowkanga

I would love fellows OSs expertise on this... I have a patio set of hardwood furniture which by this year was looking fairly weathered - its a few years old. Have in the past used teak oil but think should have kept it inside this cold winter. Anyway seem to have spent a small fortune getting it back to looking good and ensuring it lasts.

As the wood was looking grey I sanded this off with wire brush and sand paper and then have re-applyed furniture stain. Very fiddly with the chairs! But what I couldn't get over was the price of the hardwood stain - £10.99 for a little pot - it has taken 2 pots to get 2 coats and the recommendation is 3! Not sure whether I am going to apply another coat or just buy some much cheaper teak oil for last one or just leave.... Also had to buy a few tools (ie. new sandpaper and wire brush and paint brush, white spirit for wiping down the chairs prior to staining) etc etc. It came to nearly £40!!!!

Thankfully I had some garden centre vouchers for a present - though not sure this was what the person buying them envisaged - so did use Homebase as they accept them - guess Wilkos might have doen it cheaper.

Do any OSers have any tips/OS secrets that mean I could do the job cheaper or not spend as much another year (though will not be re-staining every year). And what about decking? I don't know anything really about looking after wood - and feel very much at the mercy of the big companies telling me what I 'need'!!!

Much appreciated!

Debt_Free_Chick

Wickes do a good range of wood stain, but I'm not sure of the price. Screwfix do a 250ml tin for only £2.59! or 2.5ltrs for £24 and it's claimed to repel water too!! :j

Linseed oil might be cheaper than teak oil - again, screwfix is affordable.

All hardwood will go grey with age. You'll need to keep reapplying stain if you want to keep the colour although annual dressings of oil will help.

I would have thought your decking was pressure treated and wouldn't require oil. In any case, you would need to think of safety aspects if you did oil it ... but I would have expected it to be treated

Pink.

Hi rainbowkanga,

I have moved your thread over to the In My Home board, where hopefully you will get more replies.

Pink

FirstClassMale

Linseed oil is one of my OS style favourites. You can use it for a huge variety of things. Go for raw oil not boiled and dont buy the wee bottles at about £4 a pop. Track down your local docorators supply shop and you should be able to get 5 Litres for about a fiver.

It is a joy to use, you either like the smell or you dont. I apply it with an old sock over my hand and work with the grain. Watch out for splinters though. If you can leave your furniture outside in hot sunshine for a little while before applying the oil, then it will soak in better. Once you have put it on though you must avoid direct sunlight to let it dry. Put on as many coats as you can.

I have a friend who is an antique restorer and french polisher and he got me into Linseed oil.

OddjobKIA

Hardwood is only called so because it comes from decidous trees (ones that loose their leaves in winter) Balsa is a hard wood so is oak and ash etc. Softwood comes from the likes of pine etc.

Each wood has its different strengths and weaknesses (mine is spelling) A lot of hard wood is quite porous and needs to be sealed against the weather. Brining it in or covering it throught the winter is a must as water penetrates it freezes and expands pushing the wood apart slowly peeling the top layer away. The heat from the sun even in 'this damp little island' (docotor who quote) can cause the wood to contract and expand slightly again peeling away the top layer (unless it is seasond ) (oven process is cheaper quicker but not as good as natural but that can take up to 12 years)

Basically you have to keep on sanding sealing and protecting it for the life of the product. Maybe a waterproof varnish ( not needing yacht as that protects from SALT water) applied with a cloth building up thin layers over the whole set not forgeting the underside as well

lynzpower

Also to note that in my local poundland last week there were loads of bottle of teak oil and loads of outdoor furniture stains etc all ronseal as I recall.