Sand Teak furniture For Finishing
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Whether you want your indoor teak dining furniture to be a mellow natural brown color or your teak patio furniture to have a natural brown color or a weathered silvery gray color you'll need to sand the surface very smooth.
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If you're refinishing indoor teak furniture that had been it's natural brown color and the surface is already smooth there isn't any need for sanding, in fact it's best if you don't sand.
Sanding needs to be done smoothly and evenly. Since you've done preliminary sanding with the earlier procedures we'll start out with 220 grit sandpaper. The 220 grit will give a smooth surface, but will still allow oils and stains to enter the wood. The smoother the surface is it makes it harder for oils and stain colors to soak into the wood.
You should use a sanding block to keep the sandpaper flat if you're sanding by hand. I always use a vibrating finish sander it's a lot easier to get an even equally sanded surface with an electric sander. (Finishing purists take your hands down from your face and stop groaning so loud).
After you've sanded your umpteenth piece and are very familiar with the look, feel and affect of sanding the general rule is to do the final sanding with just a piece of sandpaper and your hand, so you can feel what's happening and I guess, to be at one with the wood, but when you're a beginner or you just do some sanding once in a while, stick to the sanding block and electric finishing sander, but not a belt sander.
Clean your work well with a tack cloth. Keep turning the cloth so that there is new area exposed to pick up dust and be sure that it's all picked up, because one little speck of dust can cause a lot of anguish in a person many times it's size.
Teak Outdoor Furniture Weathered Silver Gray
If you plan to leave your teak outdoor furniture to it's own devices and let it weather to a silver gray color you're all through. It's natural oils will take over from here. Any type of coating will stop the action of the sun and weather on the wood and disrupt the silvering action.
Stain Your Teak Furniture For A Different Color
If you'd like for your teak furniture to match some other furniture a little closer in color you can stain it.
You can't stain to match any lighter tones, but you can add some red tones or black or more browns.
The best stain to use on teak is an oil stain or a water base stain that has been designed to have properties similar to oil stain.
You can mix stains of the same brand and type to get different colors and tones.
Apply the stain liberally and let it sit for a little bit to have time to soak in then wipe the excess stain off completely, wiping in the direction of the grain. Let the stain dry for at least as long as the instructions on the container say.
Teak Furniture Final Finish
The final finish may be one of several things. You can use Teak Oil, Tung Oil, Lacquer, Acrylic or just about any other clear finish that can be used on other wood furniture. Spar Varnish works well outside.
Both teak oil and tung oil are applied with either a brush or a cloth. If you apply it with a brush it will be necessary to wipe the excess off with a cloth. Most good teak oils are made from tung oil with a few additives added.
Teak Oil and Tung Oil Finish
We'll cover mainly teak oil and tung oil here. If you would like more information about other finishes you might try RefinishFurniture.com for more finish information and very comprehensive general refinishing information.
Teak oil and tung oil are applied in the same manner and will both give good results and good protection. Both oils give less protection than other harder surface finishes, but the protection is very adequate and the ease of repair of minor scratches and blemishes and the ease of application make the oils look very appealing.
The Tung oil shown is Rockler's 100% tung oil and is pure and somewhat thick. Another name for tung oil is Chinawood Oil, because it was perfected in China several centuries ago. Tung oil finish is thinned with solvents to make it easier to work with. Read more about Tung Oil finish.
Applying Teak Oil and Tung Oil
You need to apply teak oil and tung oil liberally, very liberally and it can be applied any old which way with a brush or cloth. It's better to use a big brush so you can get more on at a time. Let the oil sit for a good long time, but keep an eye on it. Don't let it get gummy before you wipe the excess. If it does get gummy just add some more and smoosh it around and it'll soften the gummy stuff.
If areas start to look dull and don't have oil sitting on the surface, apply more so as much will soak into the wood as possible. Before the excess on the surface gets gummy wipe it off. When you're wiping excess oil, wipe with the direction of the grain. Let that coat dry for at least 24 hours, then repeat the process three or four times
When you first apply each coat you can sand the oil into the surface with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and you'll end up with a very smoooooth finish. Be sure to always sand in the direction of the grain pattern.
Letting the teak oil and tung oil soak into the wood is what gives the most protection. After the oils soak into the wood they harden and harden the top surface of the wood, as well as leaving a film on top of the wood that also hardens.
Don't Lose It All To Fire!!
Oily rags and paper towels, no matter if its oils from finishing furniture, finishing the teak in your boat, or motor oil from working on your car in the garage, can catch fire from spontaneous combustion if they're left in a pile. Be sure to dispose of your oily rags properly, preferably in a metal can with a metal lid. If you only have a plastic bucket, fill it with water and put the rags in the bucket of water until you can get rid of them properly
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