CLASSIC MEMORIAL BENCHES – AFTERCARE

MAINTAINING HARDWOOD BENCHES.
When choosing any kind of hardwood for your memorial bench, it’s important to familiarises yourself with maintaining this much valued material. Oak is naturally durable and often left untreated (or fumed if a darker appearance is desired) and allowed to silver naturally over time.

All garden furniture, whether it is made from oak, teak, larch or even plastic should be cleaned periodically. Cleaning the bench as you would with any other outdoor furniture is not only courteous to the people who will sit on it but cleaning hardwood will also help prevent decay.

The most important take away points to understand with maintaining oak are as follows.

1 – If you’d like your bench to weather naturally and have a bright silvered appearance it’s important to keep it clean. We recommend cleaning the top surfaces of the bench at least once but ideally twice a year. Sugar Soap works well with a stiff brush. Tannin staining can be removed very effectively with an oxalic acid solution. 

Silvering hardwood can be so beautiful if kept clean. Oak is naturally durable and silvers very well.

2 – Oak contains natural oils & tannins which help make it naturally durable and resistant to decay. This means you can let it silver without oiling in the early years.

3 – For extra peace of mind, especially if a bench is in woodland or under trees, you can treat the bench with a simple clear wood preserver. Do this annually when the bench is bone dry. Soaking the top surfaces liberally with a clear wood preserver using a big brush is a quick and easy job.

4 – OILING- If you prefer the idea of oiling your bench we do recommend waiting a year or two for the natural oils in the wood to deplete and for the rock hard surface to become a little more porous. At this point the oil can really soak in and get a good foundation.
You may oil the bench sooner than this but just keep an eye and replenish the oil if it starts to wear off. Modern garden furniture penetrating oils work well on seasoned oak and build year on year as more is applied.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A wooden bench receives a lot more wear and tear than for example oak window frames, doors etc. People sitting on the bench, as well as rain, frost & baking summer sunshine all contribute and any finish that is applied will wear off over time, especially on the seat part of the bench. If a bench that has had a treatment applied is neglected for too long, it can look scruffy and regaining a nice even finish again can be very difficult. In contrast, an untreated bench is much easier to refurbish without needing to sand off an old treatment.

For more information on bench maintenance please get in touch and our team will be happy to advise.