Caring for your furniture

Aftercare

All of our furniture is crafted using only the finest materials and the finest manufacturing methods. This is our ethos and is at the heart of the way we supply furniture – after all, we like to think of our furniture as an investment to beautify your home and garden!

With this in mind, for the most part we manufacture and choose furniture that needs minimal care and will happily be used heavily on a daily basis as is. With life as busy as it is, having to continuously care for your furniture can be a nightmare.

 

Outdoor Furniture

Outdoor Teak Garden Furniture

We choose Teak as a material for lots of our products because of its natural affinity to repel the elements as it’s naturally packed full of Teak oil which aids the longevity and durability of the product. Teak is well known for being a timber able to withstand any weather without further intervention and treatment. All of our Teak benches, tables, garden dining sets and Teak chairs are all Grade A Teak unless otherwise stated. This means that we have used the highest quality element of the Teak tree; this is Teak from the very heart of a mature Teak tree. This is the hardest and most oily Teak from the tree. It has a superior warm and even colour to it and is much more resilient to weather than the lower grades of Teak. This ensures its life span and durability. However there is a lot less of this Grade A timber within each tree and as a result is a more expensive product. We do also stock our budget range of Teak which is called Grade C Teak, ensuring that we cater for all budgets and that our suppliers use the whole of the tree,  preventing wastage. Grade C Teak is not as high in oil content as Grade A, but is still Teak and a hard wood making it more durable and long lasting than many other outdoor timber options.

As Teak is not native to the UK all of our Teak products are imported from Indonesia and are crafted from Government managed SLVK certified Teak. This ensures that all the timber comes from managed forests combating illegal logging and deforestation. We aim to ship in bulk so that the transport effects on the environment are kept to a minimum, whilst ensuring that we maintain a steady flow of work for our suppliers in Indonesia.

We make use of all Teak timber and ensure that the products are of the highest standard so that little to no care needs to be taken to ensure the life span of your Teak products from Sustainable Furniture. We do however have some tips to ensure an even longer life:

- We recommend using a brush to remove excess debris found on your outdoor Teak furniture every year.
- Ensure that your furniture is not sitting in water – ensure the furniture has adequate drainage.
- We recommend using our Teak sealer which can be applied once the furniture is cleaned to bring it up to its previous warm colour and replenish its natural oil supplies, this will also help to minimise any natural cracking and movement in the wood. To find     out more about how to apply the sealer, please see our blog post.

-We recommend when using our Teak Folding furniture that you tighten any fixings around the moving parts regularly. This keep the joins strong and longer lasting.

Teak will go a silvery grey colour from its original warm tone if left outside. This is not detrimental to its life and is completely natural. All outdoor teak products come with brass fixings, which stand the test of time and do not weather with exposure to the elements.



Outdoor Douglas Fir & Swedish Redwood Garden Furniture

Our entire Douglas Fir and Swedish Redwood picnic bench and garden bench ranges are made using traditional methods in our local sawmills. We use only quality local saw millers approved by us so that the products you buy are of the highest quality. We regularly sell to businesses, the Government, the Forces including the Army and also the NHS and National Trust. All of our picnic benches and garden benches are commercial grade and as a result are built to withstand heavy day to day use. All of the timber within our Swedish Redwood and Douglas Fir products is traceable and sustainable.

- Every product is sanded to finish ensuring they have a smooth finish suitable for commercial use, helping to minimise splinters and snagging on clothing.
-  All of our Swedish Redwood and Douglas Fir furniture is pressure tanalised. Tanalising is a process where a protective fluid is applied to the benches, which adds a heavy resistance to the weather, rotting and ensures its long life. It’s applied under pressure to ensure it reaches the core of the wood and is not just surface deep.
- Only traditional manufacturing methods are used which are tried and tested..
- We use only the highest quality anti-corrode fixings

As our benches have been fully  tanalised there is no need to treat them further against rot or weathering,  however if you would like to prevent the wood turning silver-grey we can supply OSMO Douglas Fir oil which is suitable for both Douglas Fir and Swedish Redwood timbers. This protects the wood against UV damage and repels water and dirt for an all year round clean and lustre looking picnic table or bench.

Outdoor Oak Garden Furniture

Our beautiful Oak garden benches and picnic tables are made locally in our Cornish sawmill and we have provided many of these to large organisations such as Cormac, the National Trust, the NHS and many pubs and restaurants. All of our Oak products are also manufactured from UK grown timber.

- Every product is sanded to finish, ensuring they have a smooth finish suitable for commercial use and to minimise splinters and snagging on clothing.
- Only traditional manufacturing methods are used which are tried and tested for long life.
- High quality fixings resistant to corroding are used to ensure that these don’t shorten the benches life.

Although our Oak products come untreated as the original raw wood we recommend using an OSMO Oak treatment which protects Oak against UV, rot, blackening and insects. It also protects again mould, moss and algae helping your products stay clean all year round.



Indoor Furniture Care

Reclaimed Indoor Furniture

Our indoor furniture comes made from a range of quality timbers namely, Teak, Elm and Pine. All of our products are crafted from reclaimed timbers sourced from old colonial buildings, ships and other unused structures. Reclaimed wood is a great choice for your furniture as it has already had time to season and has hardened over 25 years plus, this also means that has a very minimal risk of timber movement in comparison to new timber. Our beautiful reclaimed furniture also comes with ooddles of character and every piece tells its own story making our reclaimed furniture the talking point of your home. Our furniture is not just something to sit on or eat from but in its own right, a piece of art. We tend to favour heavier duty construction and often go for chunky furniture made from traditional methods that stands the test of time.

Caring for your reclaimed furniture is simple; all of our reclaimed furniture is as made from real wood meaning that they need minimal maintenance. They will last as is without any intervention for many, many years.  Should you spill any liquid on your table then what we recommend in the first instance is to just use warm soapy water to remove the stain. 99% of the time we find this generally works to remove any marks. Try to use a soap that is quite gentle such as fairy liquid diluted in warm water, we find a soft approach is the best way to start. Be careful not to saturate the table surface, simply using a cloth with soapy warm water should do it. Should the mark not be removed, we then suggest the Finish Reviver product we sell that is a more hard hitting stain remover for wood and can be used to buff away ring marks left from mugs and help cover light scratches.

Some of our Reclaimed Timber products are natural and unfinished, whilst some are treated with a light wax finish.  If you would like to protect your furniture against spillages, grease, dirt and grime we recommend using our Briwax Natural Beeswax and Briwax Natural Spray to treat your furniture. An initial application of two coats of the beeswax will add a protective layer. We then recommend cleaning regularly using the spray as a polish when dusting, which will protect against staining between applications of the Briwax Natural Beeswax. Application frequency of the Beeswax will depend on how often you use the furniture. For more information on the best way to apply Briwax please see our blog post.



Upholstered Chairs & Sofas

All of our upholstered sofas are manufactured with comfort and practicality in mind. The covers have zips making them 100% removable and washable at 30 degrees or below in the washing machine. We recommend putting the covers back onto the sofas slightly damp so that they mould back to the sofa quickly. Perfect for holiday homes and homes where children’s sticky fingers cannot be avoided. For our upholstered chairs, sofa armchairs and smaller stains on sofas we can supply an upholstery kit which contains an enzyme stain removing spray and a spray protection treatment which helps to repel water and oil based stains. For our wicker sofa aftercare please see the indoor cushion and Natural Kubu Wicker section of this page.

Indoor Cushions

Our fabulous indoor cushions are made to fit our furniture with precision and comfort. With either Velcro or tie back fastenings for our dining chairs, all the cushions have zips making them fully removable and machine washable at 30 degree or less. We recommend putting the covers back onto the cushions slightly damp so that they mould back onto the foam pads perfectly. Again, for smaller more suborn stains you might wish to try our upholstery kit duo with the enzyme stain remover and spray protection treatment to help protect your furniture. Please see individual product descriptions for the aftercare advice on our Wicker chairs and sofas.

Outdoor Cushions and Parasols

Our beautifully vibrant and colourful outdoor cushions and parasols are the perfect choice for comfortable outdoor dining. With a thick fabric 230g polyester cover and showerproof coating they are great for outdoor use. All of our cushion covers and parasol covers are removable and machine washable at 30 degrees. It is important not to wash the covers on a wash higher than 30 degrees as this can affect the Teflon coating. We recommend putting the covers and parasol canopies back onto the foam or frame a little damp to ensure they mould back perfectly.



Recycled Plastic

Our recycled plastic range is a great option for commercial and public use. Its strong and sturdy structure means that it is a fabulous hard-wearing product and the weight alone means that it deters thieves, although if this is a concern anchor kits can be provided to secure the items to the floor. With a UV protection and structure guarantee of up to 10 years these amazing products will stand the test of time with no colour fading. These products are also fire resistant and vandal proof making them ideal for public areas. In order to clean these items you can use soap and warm water with a light scrubbing brush (do not use a metal wire brush as this can cause scratches) or alternatively they can be pressure washed to remove dirt.

Natural Kubu Wicker

The amazing natural Kubu wicker range is designed using natural Kubu wicker fibres which harden over time for long lasting wear. As the product is natural it will remain strong and will not go brittle if left in the sun making it great for indoor or outdoor use. For those who are using the Kubu Wicker inside then there is no need to treat it further it will stay as beautiful as the day your purchased it and is very heavy duty and hard wearing. For those using the Kubu wicker outside or in a conservatory or space with lots of sunlight you may notice that over time the wicker will weather to an even more grey colour and go lighter, this will not impact the durability of the product and is in fact often a lovely look for the product. If you do not wish for the wicker to weather you can treat it with our Clear Sealer to protect against UV rays.

All of our products are designed with a minimal maintenance approach and are built to last. If you have any questions about our treatment products or how to care for your furniture please free to contact us.



Teak Root Care

 

Teak Root Products

These gorgeous and eye catching teak root products are beautiful as they are and do not require any further treatment, but we do recommend regular dusting to keep them clean and using our Briwax Natural Spray, which will keep the root polished and apply a light layer of wax to give natural lustre and protection. If you have a teak root product with a glass top you will need to clean your glass top regularly to prevent marking and scratches. We recommend our glass cleaning kit which comes with our commercial glass cleaning spray and cleaning cloth for a smear free quick clean.