Adviseability of cleaning teak with pressure washer?
 

Due to a broken collarbone, my usual scrubbing brush and elbow grease method
of cleaning our teak garden furniture is not possible. Does anyone know if
using a pressure washer will damage the wood?

TIA,

Pete

The message
from Martin contains these words:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:18:40 GMT, "Pete Franklin"
wrote:

Due to a broken collarbone, my usual scrubbing brush and elbow grease
method
of cleaning our teak garden furniture is not possible. Does anyone know if
using a pressure washer will damage the wood?

Yes. It removes the soft part of the wood.

Is there a soft part, on teak?

Janet

Martin wrote:
On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 17:08:11 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Martin contains these words:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:18:40 GMT, "Pete Franklin"
wrote:

Due to a broken collarbone, my usual scrubbing brush and elbow
grease method
of cleaning our teak garden furniture is not possible. Does anyone
know if using a pressure washer will damage the wood?

Yes. It removes the soft part of the wood.

Is there a soft part, on teak?

Yes. Every boat owner knows not to use a high pressure hose to clean
teak fittings and decks.

but many garden furniture manufacturers say it's ok - with care and keeping
the lance 6-12" away from the wood.

pk

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:18:40 GMT, "Pete Franklin"
wrote:

Due to a broken collarbone, my usual scrubbing brush and elbow grease method
of cleaning our teak garden furniture is not possible. Does anyone know if
using a pressure washer will damage the wood?

TIA,

Pete

Worked a treat on our bench. Took off all the surface grime and algae
and brought up the grain. While it may damage softer parts, our bench
didn't appear to have any. YMMV.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"p.k." wrote in message
...
Martin wrote:
but many garden furniture manufacturers say it's ok - with care and
keeping the lance 6-12" away from the wood.

pk
Why didn't I think of asking them? Doh.
Oh well, prompted by your post, I checked the manufactuirers website, and
found this in the FAQ:
"
How do you clean teak?
Once teakwood has weathered the colour will be enhanced by an annual scrub,
in the Spring, with soapy water to remove accumulated dirt. Alternatively
you may use a pressure hose with a fan or multi-nozzle jet. However, great
care should be used since failure to abide by recommended procedures may
result in permanent damage to the furniture. Where a gauge is fitted it
should be set to a pressure of 60-80 bar (900-1200 psi). A distance of
15-20cm (6-8") should be maintained between the nozzle and the surface to be
cleaned. Care should be taken not to direct the water jet directly into
joints.

"



Thanks all.



Pete

The message
from Martin contains these words:

On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 17:08:11 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from Martin contains these words:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:18:40 GMT, "Pete Franklin"
wrote:

Due to a broken collarbone, my usual scrubbing brush and elbow grease
method
of cleaning our teak garden furniture is not possible. Does anyone
know if
using a pressure washer will damage the wood?

Yes. It removes the soft part of the wood.

Is there a soft part, on teak?

Yes. Every boat owner knows not to use a high pressure hose to clean
teak fittings and decks.

Isn't that to avoid blasting out the caulking between planks? Or
don't they have caulking any more ?

Janet