Karo Teak Furniture

Teak furniture has a high reputation amongst manufacturers and buyers because of the qualities of the material - teak wood. Teak (tectona also known locally as jati) offers a number of features that make it the leading choice for buyers looking for great value from their furniture purchase. Teak furniture is durable, beautiful, eco-friendly.

Teak wood is an extremely dense & course grained hard wood, high in natural oils. This dense grain texture makes the wood highly resistant to swelling, shrinkage, rotting and warping. The high oil content means that it has an inbuilt preservative, giving the wood a long life, for many generations down any person's family tree from children to grand children. The course texture comes from the high amount of silica in the wood, and causes rapid blunting of cutting edges.

This means teak furniture is the first choice for buyers seeking furniture that is strong, resistant to sun, rain, wind or snow, and will last a long time. The high oil content makes it a natural insect repellant, giving the timber a high resistance to attack by termites or other wood insects. On top of that we also treat the wood with wood-friendly chemicals for preventing future problems given by insects.

Teak has a warm yellow honey colour, and is very smooth to the touch. It does not splinter and has a faint aromatic smell, similar to leather. The wood grain is strait, even in texture, and has few knots. Freshly cut teak has an oily feel due to the high oil content. Because natural teak wood is so beautiful, we actively try to maintain the beauty of the wood in our teak furniture, by using a natural wax finish, rather than staining the wood.

A natural wax finish preserves the colour of the wood, and gives our furnitures a warm, natural colour and feel. We think this is important to the look of our teak furniture. While natural colours can brighten up your homes, darker colours give it a more distinct and modern look to your existing interiors. That is what we provide here at Karo Teak Furniture, a range of finishing colours at your choice, from white & gold to classical to jet black and many more.

The teak plantations provide a high value crop that is the major source of income for the local people, and the associated timber product industries provides a regular source of local employment.

Teak has a wide range of quality, and buyers need to be careful that only the best wood is used in their teak furniture. Do not be fooled by cheap prices. If the price is cheap, it means you are buying cheap quality teak, and that's not good.

The Cut

Teak wood cut closer to the heart of the tree has an even grain and shape. This also means that the tree used was a harvested tree, cut when the tree was mature enough to yield good wood. The length of the wood is longer and straighter. Teak furniture made from this wood is of high quality.

Wood cut closer to the outside of the tree, or cut from a tree of small diameter (younger) has a lot more growth rings and knots. Wood cut in this way has a much more uneven texture, length, and color. Teak furniture made from this type of wood has many more live knots, is uneven, has a lot more waves in the wood, and more sap lines. This type of wood is inferior in quality.

The Moisture Content

Not only does the age of the tree, and where the wood was cut from, affect the quality of the wood, but the moisture content of the wood also affects the quality of teak furniture.

Freshly felled teak has a moisture content of about 40%. Left to dry for a few weeks and the moisture content drops to about 25%. If you live in the tropics, than teak furniture in your house with this percentage of moisture is no problem, as the air is humid and the furniture will not dry out.

But, once your teak furniture is exported to drier climates like the USA, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, the furniture dries out and shrinks and warps, because the moisture content of the wood is higher than the air. Basically, the furniture cracks and splits.

 To overcome this, the percentage moisture content in the wood needs to be reduced from 25% to 12-15%. This is achieved by putting the wood into drying ovens for 2-3 weeks to reduce the moisture content down. Once the moisture content is low, we can then use the wood to manufacture.  

But besides this moisture issue, which is easily overcome, teak furniture offers great value for money, is durable, long lasting, and looks great indoors and outdoors.

The Finishing

What sets us apart from most teakwood retailers is that here at Karo Teak Furniture, products that are in varnished/sprayed finishing (Rattan Brown, Natural Dark, Walnut, Classic) are covered with 3 layers of spray (same used for cars & commercial planes) which result in 100% finishing for all areas of the furniture item.