Teak Care Without the Fuss

Most furniture care advice reads like a dental routine. Do this daily, that weekly, buy these seven products. Teak is not like that. Teak is mostly interested in being left alone.

I have looked after a dining table and a long low sideboard in teak for about ten years, and I have made the usual mistakes. What follows is what I would tell a friend.

Know what you have

Not all teak is the same. Solid teak is a dense wood with a natural oil in it, and it handles years of use. Teak veneer is a thin layer glued over a different core, and it is far less forgiving. Look at an edge, or under the table, where the wood is cut. If you can see a different material beneath a thin skin, you have a veneer.

This matters, because a veneer can lift if it gets soaked and can be sanded through if you are heavy-handed. Treat it gently, and never take sandpaper to it without asking someone who does this for a living.

The routine

Twice a year, perhaps three times if the room is very dry, I do this:

1. Dust and wipe with a barely damp cloth.

2. Apply a thin coat of teak oil with a lint-free rag, rubbing along the grain.

3. Leave it for a quarter of an hour.

4. Wipe off every trace of the excess with a clean dry cloth.

That final step is the one people skip. Oil left on the surface turns tacky, then sticky, then a dark smear that collects dust. The wood should feel dry and slightly silky, not wet.

What to avoid

Silicone sprays and wax polishes that promise a shine. They look good for a week, build a film and make the next oiling patchy. Avoid placing the table beside a radiator or in strong afternoon sun, which dries the surface and fades it unevenly. Avoid hot dishes without a mat. And avoid scrubbing with anything harsh.

If a glass leaves a ring, try a little oil on a soft cloth first, rubbing with the grain. If it stays, give it a few weeks. Rings fade as the oil settles back in, more often than you would think.

The colour changes

New teak is honey. Old teak, in the sun, goes silver or a deeper amber, depending on the light. A change of colour is a change in character, not damage. I prefer a table that has been to a few Christmases. If you want it back to its first colour, a professional refinisher can strip and re-oil, but you will lose some of what the years put there.

A small habit

Move the things on the surface once a month. Lamps and bowls leave pale shadows if they sit in the same place for too long, and a shifted vase is the easiest repair in the house.

Still to come, the item that hides most of what you own and holds the most weight: a sideboard buying guide. Before that, a lesson in how to light the room it sits in, from 1958.