Historically, teak furniture is rooted in luxury, often found in custom-made, glossy furniture on luxury yachts or solid-carved doors and paneling in palatial homes. Thanks to these opulent applications, teak furniture has a high-maintenance reputation that simply isn’t true. Today, many consumers have come to appreciate this wood of the ages and its natural use in outdoor furniture.

Teak is a durable hardwood with dense grain and high natural oil content, requiring little to no care. “It’s the material of choice for its sheer beauty and dependability. Teak’s high oil and silica content make it highly resistant to rotting, warping, or splitting, allowing it to withstand the extremities of weather, including sun, rain, and snow.”

These unique characteristics in strength and stability have made teak a go-to material for centuries in shipbuilding and furniture making. Plus, its high natural oil content also means that teak has a comparatively low coefficient of thermal expansion. That means it won’t expand, contract, warp, split, or crack in humid environments or even when submerged. Teak loves water!

So why the high-maintenance reputation? Left to age naturally outdoors in the sun and rain, teak wood gradually changes color from its golden honey hues to a silvery patina as the pigments on the surface fade. The aging process only adds to the wood’s beauty and character. This color change is only on the surface, the result of oxidation from the sun's UV rays, and does not, in any way, affect the structural integrity of the wood or the furniture.

Here are some common myths about teak maintenance and answers to questions about keeping outdoor furniture to last for generations.

When used outdoors, the best thing to do is to let your teak furniture weather and age gracefully in its natural elements. Clean the furniture with a soft bristle brush and a mild soap solution about twice a year. Hosing it down with plenty of water will remove the accumulation of day-to-day grime and airborne impurities over time. Over the years, your furniture will weather gracefully, the silvery gray blending beautifully with the landscape of its natural surroundings.

If you want your teak furniture to retain its original golden hues, you might consider having it professionally finished. Some of these finishes (such as using a teak protector to maintain its color) could be a weekend DIY project at home, but other finishes, like the high gloss popular with boats and yachts or used indoors, are more involved. In this case, having it done professionally is highly recommended. Depending on the environment, these types of finishes may require a more frequent regimen of cleaning and refinishing.

Teak furniture can be left outdoors year-round in the freezing snow, summer sun, or rain. If you’d like to store it during winter, it is recommended that you do not move your furniture from the outdoors directly into a heated space indoors. Store in a dry, unheated garage or shed. The extreme difference in temperature and humidity may affect the dimensional stability of the wood and cause splitting or cracking. Most teak wood lumber is kiln-dried to a moisture content of 8-10%, allowing moisture reabsorption to find equilibrium with its new environment.

Teak is the quintessential gold standard in wood, long prized for its weather resistance, durability, beautiful appearance, and relative ease of work. Over the ages, it has been used in the shipbuilding and construction industry for bridges and homes, flooring, and furniture, both indoors and outdoors.

When used outdoors, teak furniture can be enjoyed season after season, year after year, with little or no care. Given proper care, a piece of thoughtfully designed, well-crafted furniture can become an heirloom handed down through generations.

Mal Haddad is the President and Head of Design at Westminster Teak, a nationally recognized brand specializing in luxury outdoor furniture. With over two decades of experience in furniture design, Mal has fused his deep knowledge of teak with a lifelong passion for industrial design to create pieces that are well-crafted and timeless.

Though his tertiary background is in Ocean Engineering, Mal’s creative instincts have always drawn him toward design. Today, he channels that vision into every collection at Westminster Teak, where he is known for his technical expertise in teak and his commitment to craftsmanship and lasting quality.

Mal’s design philosophy centers on creating beautiful, timeless pieces made from materials that endure, that people can connect and live with for a lifetime. He believes great design should age gracefully, gaining character and telling a story as it becomes part of a home’s legacy. Over time, every piece tells a story.