Teak Is One Of The Most Durable And Beautiful Woods In The World, Just Perfect For Your Outdoor Patio Furniture

By: Patricia Woods

Teak is a genus of tropical hardwoods with a scientific tag of Tectona. It is a hardwood ingrained to South and Southeast Asia and is normally part of a monsoon jungle, maturing on low hills, far away from the shore line. Teak is a deciduous tree, releasing its leaves in the waterless season and is not included in a tropical rainforest. It is a large tree, and will easily grow 30 to 40 meters tall. Teak has a big concentration of oils and minerals, causing the wood to be waxy and flexible. This makes a wood that is water resistant and insect resistant, as well as a strong, straight grain to resist bending. Teak is usually honey to mocha brown, however it can have a reddish hue. If it remains raw and bare to the elements, it can dim to a silvery gray, though a yearly oil treatment can keep it's natural complexion. Teak is ingrained to Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, The Philippines and India.

Teak has been utilized for a minimum of two thousand years and is referenced in poetry from that century. Teak logs last as the main structural component in buildings centuries past in India, and also in thousand year old temples. This shows the amazing function of Teak to last when stressed is placed on it. Teak was a huge 18th Century export for China, where flooring, cabinets, paneling and multiple different wood elements were exported to Europe. Teak was frequently used for art objects, though the hearty wood made this a tasking process, requiring much resharpening of tools. Later in the Victorian Era, this was hugely overcome and Teak art creations became more main stream.

The durability and salt water resistance made Teak especially valuable to the Royal Navy, and beyond World War I, when numerous used warships were being discarded, the crews were hit by the good condition of the Teak decking and determined to save the wood. Much of it became lawn furniture, making the tradition of teak outdoor furniture. The Royal Navy was not the only one using Teak; the unique characteristics of this wood made it sought after worldwide among ship builders in the sailing age. There is an momentous whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan, held in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut that was constructed in 1841 and had hard miles with many worldwide journeys but still looks like new.

The continuous increasing ease of Teak building led to Teak becoming a enormous component of the Danish modern style of furniture, extremely excepted in the 50s and 60s. This furniture is now undergoing a renaissance in popularity and authentic Teak furniture from this time is very excepted with collectors and others.

It is also heavily manufactured in Indonesia, there Dutch traders created tree farms in 1816. Perum Perhutani, an organization of the Indonesian Government, operates the tree farms now. They strictly control trees taken and new plantings to only keep very high quality wood. Experiments have shown that Indonesia Teak can grow twenty meters in fifteen years. Today Indonesia and Burma, officially known as Myanmar, have become the world’s largest exporters of Teak.

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Patricia Woods is a interior design specialist with a passion for teak furniture. For more information on Patricia and her line of teak steamers and loungers, click here.
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