Home Add Your Site Member Login F A Q About Us Articles Contact Us

Characteristics of Original teak furniture

Teak is a perfect material for both outdoor and indoor furniture. However, you should also be aware that not all teak wood are of the same quality, or worse, not all are even real teak furnitures. If you are an amateur in teak selecting, you might not understand which furniture are original teak and which are not. Moreover, several kinds of wood can resemble others, which makes people increasingly unaware of original and replicas of teak wood. Fortunately for you, teak wood has special characteristics which differ with other woods. However other furnitures may seem to look like teak, there is always a distinctive feature that differs teak from other woods. Here are some of the characteristics of original teak furniture: 

1. Appearance of teak wood

The first thing you have to know is the appearance of teak wood. Heartwood is dark golden-brown to dark golden-yellow to rich brown in color with darker chocolate-colored brown streaks. Sapwood is white to pale yellow. Texture is fairly coarse and uneven. Grain is straight, occasionally wavy.

2. Teak does not splinter.

Teak wood does not feel like other woods. It is a close-grained hardwood with high natural oil and rubber content. It is one of the hardest of all timbers. Once you put your hand on teak wood you will be able to tell the difference between teak and other wood types. Teak does not splinter. If you rub your hands across the surface of a piece of wood you should be able to quickly tell if it is a teak or not.

3. Teak has a very light fragrant smell

Teak contains silica, calcium, rubber and natural oil which release a distinct smell. You will smell a very light fragrant smell, coming from the wood. It's an earthy smell, but one that is different from other freshly cut woods. Teak gets this smell from the oils that are heavily embedded in the wood.

There you are, 3 basic characteristics of original teak. As a start, you might not get the sense immediately, but with a little practice and experience, you should be able to tell eventually.