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Help with woodcare Wood outdoors
A teak garden set is re-oiled in two days: cleaned and properly dry, sanded to 180 grit at most, degreased with Cellulose Thinners, then two to three coats of Durax Teak Oil 12 to 18 hours apart. Each coat goes on generously, soaks in for 5 to 10 minutes and is wiped along the grain; after 20 minutes, all the oil still wet is removed, or it turns tacky. Durax Teak Oil, a blend of tung and linseed, gives the wood back the oils the weather has taken. Danish Oil suits the other garden woods. A maintenance coat each spring, or as soon as water stops beading.
Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France woodcare specialists
Why oil it
Teak is an oily, dense wood that needs no upkeep at all: left outdoors, it turns silver-grey in a season or two and stays sound for decades. The grey is a patina, not a disease. You oil a garden set to give it back its honey colour, not to save it. It is a choice of appearance, and it commits you to doing it again every year.
If the choice is made, Durax Teak Oil is the oil for hardwoods and exotic timbers — teak, iroko: a blend of tung and linseed that nourishes the wood and replaces the natural oils lost through weathering. For less oily garden woods — eucalyptus, acacia, a pine bench — Danish Oil, made for interior and exterior use, gives an open-grain look and protects from liquids. No other oil in the range goes outdoors; waxes, varnishes and shellacs stay inside. For painted garden furniture, see How to paint garden furniture.
The method
Two mild, dry days, with no direct sun on the wood while you work: oil does not dry in the cold, and it sets too fast in full sun.
A stiff brush and clean water, along the grain, to lift dust, moss and the surface grey. Rinse. No pressure washer, which opens the fibres.
A day or two under cover: the wood must be dry through, below 18% moisture, or the oil will not penetrate and sits on the surface. Greyed teak looks dry long before it is.
120 grit on rough or blackened patches, then 180 everywhere, along the grain, never finer: beyond that, burnished wood no longer absorbs. Dust off with a cloth.
Teak and iroko are oily: a cloth of Cellulose Thinners, with gloves and air, lifts the natural surface oil and opens the wood to the Durax Teak Oil. Let it evaporate.
With a brush or cloth, generously, slats, edges and end grain included. Let it soak for 5 to 10 minutes, then wipe the excess along the grain, leaving a thin film.
After 20 minutes, wipe off all the oil still wet with a clean, dry cloth. Left on the surface, it dries thick and tacky. Rags go into a bucket of water or dry flat outdoors: bundled up, they can ignite on their own.
Same move, same wiping. Two coats are enough on teak that is still nourished, three on greyed, dry wood. After that, a maintenance coat each spring, or as soon as water stops beading.
Four pieces
01
A teak garden bench, silver-grey after three winters outside. Brushed, dried for two days, sanded with 180 and degreased, it takes three coats of Durax Teak Oil 12 to 18 hours apart. The honey brown comes back with the first coat; the third sets it for the season.
02
A large iroko garden table, an exotic wood as oily as teak. Degreasing with Cellulose Thinners is essential here, or the oil sits on the surface. Then Durax Teak Oil, top, edges and underside included: an unoiled underside drinks moisture from the ground and makes the top move.
03
A hardwood deck chair with many fine slats. A flat brush between the slats, a cloth to wipe each slat one by one: it is slow, but the oil left between two slats is exactly the oil that turns tacky. Durax Teak Oil, two coats, and the 20-minute rule slat by slat.
04
A garden set in eucalyptus or acacia, hardwoods less oily than teak, often sold already oiled. After cleaning and drying, Danish Oil, made for outdoors, penetrates the wood, leaves the grain open and protects it from liquids: three coats 12 to 18 hours apart, wiped at 20 minutes, then one coat each spring.
The table
| The wood | The oil | The rhythm |
|---|---|---|
| Teak | Durax Teak Oil, after degreasing with Cellulose Thinners | Two to three coats 12 to 18 hours apart; a maintenance coat each spring or as soon as water stops beading |
| Iroko and other oily exotics | Durax Teak Oil, degreasing essential | The same; keep an eye on the underside of table tops |
| Eucalyptus, acacia, garden hardwoods | Danish Oil | Three coats 12 to 18 hours apart; one coat each spring |
| Pine bench or table | Danish Oil, or Hard Wax Oil for a harder film | Danish Oil: three coats. Hard Wax Oil: two thin coats 24 hours apart; see wood outdoors |
| Teak left grey | None | A brush and water each spring; the wood stays sound with nothing |
The wood must be dry (below 18% moisture) and the day mild: oil does not dry in the cold.
To avoid
Frequently asked
No. Teak left outdoors greys and stays sound for decades with nothing at all. You oil it for the colour, and you then commit to doing it again each spring. Teak oiled once and then abandoned greys unevenly; better to choose, and stick to it.
Three coats as a rule for full durability, two on teak that is still nourished, 12 to 18 hours apart. Each coat goes on generously, soaks for 5 to 10 minutes, is wiped along the grain, and anything still wet at 20 minutes is removed. After that, a maintenance coat as soon as water stops beading.
Durax Teak Oil, a blend of tung and linseed, for oily hardwoods — teak, iroko — whose natural oils, lost through weathering, it replaces. Danish Oil, made for interior and exterior use, for the other garden woods: eucalyptus, acacia, pine. Both are applied the same way.
The excess was not wiped at 20 minutes, or the wood was damp. Go over it with a cloth of Cellulose Thinners, gloves and air, to dissolve the tacky film, let it evaporate, then lay one thin coat and wipe properly. Rags into water.
See also
Sand, de-rust, prime, two coats of Eggshell or Satin: wood, iron, aluminium, and the tops where water stands....
“Teak can do without you; if you oil it, it is for the pleasure of the colour, and you will be back every spring.”
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