How can garden wood preservatives help keep your garden furniture safe?

Quality garden furniture can be expensive and you want it to look good for many years even though it is often exposed to the elements outside.

How can garden wood preservatives help keep your garden furniture safe?

Garden wood preservatives can protect your garden furniture from insect infestation. Proper treatment with a wood preservative can also protect your garden furniture from decay caused by exposure to the water as well and dirt. Garden furniture should initially be cleaned and treated with a wood preservative when purchased. Additional treatments of garden wood preservative can be applied every other year or so to ensure that your garden furniture remains looking as good as it did on the day you bought it.

The first thing that you should do after purchasing a new wooden chair or bistro table for your garden is to treat the wood with garden wood preservatives. It helps prevent decay caused by prolonged exposure to moisture. It is important to treat your wood because furniture made from cedar, oak, pine will rot if it is not properly protected.

There are a number of different types of wood preservative available. You can choose from either an oil-based preservative or a water-based preservative. To apply the preservative, just use a clean paintbrush. After the preservative is dry, it is recommended that you apply a coat or two of polyurethane to provide an added layer of protection against water absorption and damage.

It is recommended that you apply an anti-wood boring insect treatment to your wood after you stain it with garden wood preservatives. Wood boring insects such as termites, carpenter ants, powder post beetles, wasps and even carpenter bees can bore into the soft wood of your garden furniture causing structural as well as cosmetic damage to it. Apply the treatment each spring when you bring out your garden furniture from storage.

Permagard are a leading manufacturer and supplier of a large range of products for timber treatment, wood preservatives, damp proofing and general restoration and preservation work.

Photo credit: Graham Soult

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