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This is a picture of an extremely weathered teak wood park bench we found at a yard sale. It is a perfect specimen for our Sunwax experiment, a worst case situation. Many folks use Sunwax to protect their front doors. Most front doors are not this weathered; so, we hope your results will be the same and probably even better. It has been neglected over the years, there are traces of brown, white, green and red paint which has disappeared from weathering. It really looks quite ugly and gray! There is really no finish remaining. |
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Assemble the supplies.
1. One Clean Wide Mouth Jar - Clean salsa or peanut butter jars work good. It needs to be large enough that you can easily dip your 0000 steel wool into it with a gloved hand.
2. 0000 Steel Wool - I know it sounds like steel wool will just add to the scrathes that we are trying to eliminate; but, it works great. The 0000 steel wool is very fine and doesn't scratch when used gently. A cloth can be used; but, we prefer steel wool results.
3. Refinishing Gloves - Use gloves made for use with furniture refinshers. Restor-a-Finish does not burn if it get's on your skin like some finish removers, it's just best to keep it away from your skin.
4. Restor-a-Finish - Select a color that best matches the finish being restored. We chose Mahogany for this project because we liked the color. There was no finish to match.
5. Clean Soft Cloth.
6. Sand paper or wire brush.
7. Soft brush.
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The weathered wood is rough and we wanted the finish to look smooth. So, we used sand paper to even the rough edges on one side. To compare the results of minimal sanding and more agressive sanding, we used a wire brush on one side. The more the surface is smoothed by sanding, the better the results. Our after pictures reflect the lesser sanding preparation where the wood was still gray. |
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Using an old paint brush, we dusted the sanded area. |
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Pour about a one inch depth of Restor-a-Finish into a clean jar. The wood in the background of this photo has been sanded aggressively. The after photos reflect the results of the lesser sanded wood. |
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With gloves on, dip steel wool into Restor-a-Finish. We usually get about 1/4 to 1/2 of the steel wool wet with Restor-a-Finish. Allow excess to drip back into jar as you remove the steel wool. |
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Gently wipe Restor-a-Finish with the grain of the wood in an inconspicuous area. Obviously, we started with the most visible area, the top surface; but, our park bench was so ugly we figured it couldn't get much worse. Notice we said wipe not scrub. Gentle wiping is all that should be required. |
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Gently wipe Restor-a-Finish off with a clean soft cloth. If you are working on a large piece, just apply Restor-a-Finish to a small area, wipe with a soft cloth and continue to the next area. Our park bench was so dry and weathered, it absorbed the restor-a-finish leaving little to wipe. This wood was only sanded using a fine grain sand paper. |
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By now, hopefully, you've seen some good results! Apply a generous portion of Sunwax with a soft clean cloth. Wipe Feed-n-Wax in the direction of the wood grain. Feed-n-Wax brings out the depth of wood grain and leaves a nice orange scent. |
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Look at the beautiful transformation of our weathered wood. A transformation that required very little effort and was completed in less than 30 minutes! It's hard to believe it is the same wood. We believe applications of sunwax about every 3 months for maintenance and UV protection will keep our bench looking nice. Hope you found this helpful and good luck with your project! We covered the entire bench and our front door and used about an eighth of a sixteen ounce bottle. Sunwax prevents drying, cracking & deterioration, it maintains the natural beauty and depth of grain. It is a gel-like consistency and easy to apply. Sunwax does not contain silicone or linseed oil. |
