Part 0800.0005

[Becka]

Hi,

My outdoor wooden garden furniture has gone gray. Does anyone know what I can use to restore the natural colour without having to use a coloured varnish. I'm after a healthy, well-cared for look which I should have started planning for a number of years ago!

Becka

[The Dogmother]

I always used to sand it down and then paint it with teak oil - it gives a nice lustre, but no shine.

[Becka]

Thanks for the reply Claret. Does teak oil change/restore the colour?

Becka

[The Dogmother]

It restores it to a certain extent in the way that water would, albeit temporarily. It doesn't give it that nasty shine that you get with varnish though. It doesn't seem to change the colour

 

You can use boiled linseed oil too.

[Snowy]

You can buy large bottles of teak or linseed oil from Wilkinsons, very reasonbly. I used it (I think it was teak oil) to restore an old garden furniture set. It doesn't do much for the colour - you need to use fine wire wool to take off the top layer of wood and smooth it down again, then give it a good oiling. It will brighten it somewhat, and it will definitely give it better protection and prolong it's life.

[The Dogmother]

I used to get the mouse sander to it, then paper for the fiddly bits before oiling it.

 

I honestly don't have the time these days, but it was very satisfying to do.

[Chucky Mama]

We blasted our wooden garden bench with the power washer the last 2 years and it comes up a treat. Then I think we put teak oil on.

[Becka]

These answers are fab thanks! I can see this becoming a very time consuming job. My garden furniture seems to have sneaked up upon me and I have quite a large collection due to my parents shifting their old stuff up to me and putting it in the dog run without me knowing! We don't have a Wilkinsons up here so I'll have to try to find some reasonably priced teak oil because I'm going to need it by the vat. Must say I'm not looking forward to having 'sandpaper fingers' as they cause havoc with micofibre cleaning cloths!

Ta muchly,

Becka

[fluffyknickers]

Ah ha! Just done this at the weekend!

 

I used a product by HG which is a wood wash and its from B&Q and about £3.99 - youll find it in the store. I sprayed it on the wooden furniture. left for 10minutes then using a scrubbing brush with some water scrubbed away and then washed off.

 

Then once it had dried off (following day) I used a wood furniture stain by ronseal and stained it using a soft cloth, going over it 3 times.

 

Looks great now!

 

Michelle

[C&T]

I've used the Ronseal varnish the past few years.

 

My furniture was pretty cheap, and started off a lovely cedar colour. A few years in the garden, and the Ronseal stained varnish was the only option to bring it back from looking really grotty - and the furniture does look really good each time it is re-done. Must do again soon... Wouldn't necessarily recomend it it for any quality furniture, but it has really prolonged the life of my cheap stuff.

 

I am a bit lazy as well though - and don't do much sanding before I re-varnish it... I really like the idea of the jetwash though - quick, easy and would get all the chicken poo off as well, where they love standing on it!

[majorbloodnock]

First, the grey colour is not a problem, and is the effect that many people want. As a result, what you think of as neglect hasn't done any harm to the wood. In fact, the type of wood was chosen for its outside durability, and is reacting as it should.

 

Next, are you confident you know what wood the furniture is made of? If you can't be certain it's not oak or chestnut, then don't use wire wool, since iron reacts with the acidic wood and stains it - that's the reason any nails in oak floors are either galvanised or are made from brass.

 

The wood changing to a silvery grey colour is because of the wood itself becoming exposed to the elements and some surface fibres having become partly detached, hence the rough feel. As plenty of people have already pointed out, getting the furniture looking good again basically means removing the damaged surface fibres and remaining finish to get back to a smooth starting point, then reapplying a finish. Teak oil is a good choice of finish, as are many of the other oils, since they soak into the wood and feed it. Just be aware that some, like linseed oil, are strictly speaking poisonous, so theoretically you should be careful to make sure it's utterly dry before using the furniture if that furniture includes a table you might eat from. Nonetheless, I personally believe the risks are pretty low, and many commercial oils contain a linseed oil component anyway.

 

As for taking the wood back to a smooth surface is concerned, my personal preference would be to use a set of cabinet s"Ooops, word censored!"ers - one of the rectangular ones for the flat surfaces and the gooseneck one for the curved surfaces. Cabinet s"Ooops, word censored!"ers are incredibly versatile tools and can be amazingly precise, but do take a bit of practice both to use and, more importantly, to resharpen (link to article and link to follow-up article). Therefore, whilst it's the right tool for the job, you might decide you're more comfortable with the extra elbow grease but simpler use of sandpaper. There's nothing wrong with using sandpaper, but it will be slower going and more physical effort.

 

Whatever method you choose for smoothing the furniture back down, do remember that its next year outside will degrade the finish again, so there's no point in trying to achieve a smoothness and sheen you'd look for in internal furniture.

 

Finally, a word on pressure washing. It'll get rid of all the grime, but won't remove the damaged fibres and will tend to force water into joints, thereby weakening them. However, the better the furniture, the more likely the strength is through good joints rather than a few dowels and a bit of peremptory gluing, so will be able to withstand the pressure washing better.