If you are deciding what type of furniture to have in your home or garden, you may have thought you want the best. In the minds of many that means teak wood. But how do you know if a piece of furniture is really a teak piece of furniture?

Since teak is a very expensive wood, there are some unscrupulous people who would try to pass other furniture like teak, in an effort to take your money. Therefore, it is important that you know how to differentiate between real and fake teak furniture before making a purchase.

The feel of teak

The first thing to know about teak wood is that it doesn’t feel like other woods. Sure, it is as hard as wood, but once you put your hand on teak wood, you will be able to tell the difference between it and other types of wood. The most obvious difference is that, unlike other woods, teak does not splinter. If you rub your hands over the surface of a piece of wood, you should be able to quickly tell if it is a fake. The first splinter you have in your hand will be a quick indication.

The smell of teak

The next thing that can help you know if a piece of furniture is real teak furniture or not is the smell. Many things have a different smell. The leather in a new car is a good example of one of those scents that you know are real as soon as they hit your nose. In the case of teak furniture, you will notice a very light fragrant smell, coming from the wood. It is an earthy smell, but different from other freshly cut woods. Teak gets this scent from oils that are heavily embedded in the wood.

The color of teak

Teak wood differs from other woods in that it can change its appearance substantially over time. Most woods change as they age only if you offer an external stimulus. For example, a dark wood can lighten if you leave it in the sun day after day. It is not about the wood changing on its own, but about the sun’s rays that have a bleaching effect on the wood.

Teak is different. No matter what kind of environment you have it in, teak will change its colors, unless you stop it. If you leave it in the sun, the colors of teak wood will change from soft browns and oranges to silver and white, in much the same way that a person can get gray as they age. Teak that is left in the shade or kept indoors, on the other hand, will change to darker browns and oranges over time. Either way, you should be able to identify teak wood by the beautiful grain of the wood.

Typically a manufacturer’s teak furniture is what they say it is, but if you are looking to buy from a private sale or antique store, it is best to know the characteristics of the wood to make sure you are getting the real product.