Gloster Teak Wood Questions and Answers

Gloster

Can my Teak wood furniture be kept outside all year round?
Yes, Gloster Teak wood furniture can be kept outside all 12 months of the year, even in Colorado!  Of course, furniture left outside all year will get more dirty than furniture that is just used in the summer, but the long term performance and durability of the furniture is exactly the same. If you want to store your Teak wood furniture over the winter, we advise that you do so in an outdoor shed or in your garage.  You should NOT move your furniture from outside straight into a heated indoor room for storage, as the sharp differences in temperature and humidity may cause the wood to split. 

What do I need to do to protect my Teak wood furniture once left outside?
Teak does not require any special maintenence routine apart from occasional cleaning.  If left to age naturally outside by being exposed to light, air and rain, then the surface of the Teak will gradually change color as the pigments in the surface layer of the wood start to fade away.  During this time, the wood may become a mottled color of grey and brown, before fading entirely to a soft silver patina.  This color change only affects the very surface of the wood and does not affect the strength or performance of the furniture in any way.  Gloster recommends thay you simply allow your furniture to weather naturally this way and maintain the silver patina with regular, gentle cleaning with soft soap flakes dissolved in warm water (not detergent).  However, if the above regular cleaning routine is neglected, furntiture can become badly weathered (grey-black in color) or extremely dirty, in which case we offer a cleaner and brightener designed to help restore the surface color of the furniture.  We do not recommend that you clean your Teak wood furnitre with a power washer as the high pressures can erode the surface of the wood and result in a rough finish.

I want to keep my furniture looking like new.  How can I do this?
Exposure to sun, rain and the air will, over time, turn untreated teak a silver grey color.  There is little that can be done to avoid this - it is a totally natural reaction of the timber to exposure to the elements and this gradual change in color is widely considered to be part of Teak's enduring appeal.  If however, you want to retain the golden-brown color of new Teak and provide some protection from spill and stains then we also offer a Teak Sealer.  Application of Teak Sealer will not affect the strength or longevity of the furnitre in any way, just its cosmetic appearance.  If you elect to use Teak Sealer you will be embarking on a regular maintenace program as Teak Sealer requires careful application and will need to be regularly re-applied to provide continuous protection. 

Is there anything special about the Teak that Gloster uses?
Just like any natural material, individual Teak trees can display great variances in their age, size and structure and from any one tree will yield a wide range of different quality grades of timber.  Teak quality itself is determined by grain structure, absence of knots, splits or cracks and overall color.  Grading is a continuous process which begins at the sawmills, where a team of Gloster graders ensure that only Teak of the correct size and quality is delivered to the Gloster factory.  Only the most superior grade of Teak is selected for the manufacturing of Gloster furniture and there is further selection at every stage of production.  To put this into perspective, out of a single Teak tree, there is generally only enough superior quality timber to produce approximately one small set of dining furniture.

What happens to Gloster's Teak before it can be used for furniture manufacturing?
Teak is an exceptionally stable timber once it has been properly seasoned and by far the most effective means of seasoning Teak is to dry it in a kiln.  A Teak tree prior to felling has a moisture content of over 60%, but for furniture manufacturing, this needs to be reduced to just 8-10%.  Gloster has its own kilns on-site at its factory and, depending on the dimensions of the cut pieces, it can take weeks or even months to initially season their Teak by air drying which, as well as being a low energy, low pollution process, also allows the timber to further stabilize prior to being kilned.  Kiln drying the timber is important as it not only enables Gloster to craft accurate, close fitting joints and thus ensures the stability of the finished furniture in a variety of environments from frost and snow in winter to rain and sun in summer.  Furniture that is not made from kiln dried Teak can quickly begin to warp and split when left outside and can ultimately fail all together.

What is so special about the construction of Gloster Teak wood furniture?
The joints used on Gloster furniture are specifically chosen to provide the strongest means of joining the component parts together.  Thanks to the use of kiln dried timber and their modern wood working machinery, these joints are made to extremely tight tolerances, which means that they are always a perfect fit and there are no visible gaps between two pieces of joined wood.  In addition, Gloster uses a variety of high performance adhesives in the construction of the furniture, the selection of which depends upon the position of the joint and how it is required to perform in the final assembled piece of furniture.  It is especially important that outdoor furniture is constructed to this high standard as ultimately, the life expectancy of the furniture is determined as much by the quality of construction as by the raw materials used.

How does Gloster ensure consistent, high quality during manufacturing?
Gloster's way of making furniture is unique.  Each component is examined and quality is checked at every stage of manufacturing.  Before packing, the various components are completely pre-assembled and then taken apart again before being packed together in their carton.  This way, Gloster can guarantee that 100% of its shipped furniture will fit together perfectly when it is finally assembled.

Why does Gloster use Teak dowels primarily to join components together?
Teak dowels are often the most effective and easiest means of fixing joints and sub-assemblies together.  Other fixings, such as wood screws, can be quite destructive to the timber itself and are therefore less common in the construction of our products.  Our dowels are made from extra dry wood (6% moisture content) which is compressed in production before sealing in an airtight bag.  This meas that when they are used to assemble the furniture they absorb moisture from the air, swell and produce a very tight joint.