Product Care

Care & Maintenance of your Australian Designer Timber Furniture

Hardwearing Ausgum is low maintenance. Some simple steps will enable you to preserve the full beauty of the timbers. The Spotted Gum Hardwood used is rich in natural oils and in many cases will require only simple applications of a general purpose light furniture oil to continue its nourishment.

The amount of care required for your Ausgum product is directly related to the amount of exposure to the weather. If untreated, the outer surface of Spotted Gum Hardwood will naturally weather to a silver grey colour in time. However, the original colour can be maintained with use of furniture oil as required.

In a fully protected environment (e.g. covered patio or verandah) we recommend light furniture oil. Re-coating once or twice a year should be sufficient. In situations of full exposure to the weather we prefer to use an oil with in-built UV protection and recommend re-coating every three to four months. More coating may be required in the more aggressive climates. In such situations we also recommend using covers on your furniture when it is not in use.

Ausgum products are oiled before packing. We recommend hosing down your furniture thoroughly after assembly. When dry, the furniture should be re-oiled. By following these simple guidelines you will preserve and enhance your Ausgum product and guarantee many years of enjoyable use and entertainment for you, your family and friends.

Ausgum Warranty

Ausgum offers a 5 year warranty on all purchases, please see the warranty page for more information.

What Happens to Timber? (FAQ)

What is Leaching?

Timber is made up of fibre and cells structure or pores between the fibre. After it is harvested the timber dies and overtime tannins and resins that have previously been contained in the fibre slowly breaks down and move out into the pore structure of the timber.

In very porous (less dense) hardwoods such as kwila this happens quite readily and as the timber colour itself is dark when the pores become ~flushed~ out due to hosing or rain etc this washes the dark tannins and resins out and onto whatever surface it is sitting on creating the stain.

Our species is a very dense heavy hardwood. There is far less pore structure/cell space between the fibres so consequently it is less likely to have the amount of tannins/resins to leech out however every tree is slightly different in its properties so it can occur. This is generally more apparent for furniture items maintained inside or under cover as it will tend to darken up over time.

As timber is a natural product this action is unavoidable. This even happens to teak however as the natural colour of the timber is lighter it is not always as visable however staining can occurr.

How can leaching be managed?

If the timber is not exposed to conditions (soaking rain) then leaching will not occur as it has no medium to flush out the pores. The result essentially is a consistent slight darkening of the product. Non exposed conditions either means it is kept inside or under a veranda or covered patio.

If the product is to be managed in exposed conditions the ultimate protection and control of leaching is with a furniture cover.

The next step down in protection of the product and alleviating the potential ~flushing out of the pores~ comes from oiling the product. The oil fills the pores on the surface and given the nature of it as a repellent of water has the ability to stop water flushing through and there by creating any leeching that may occur. Consequently if it is not maintained with oil there is no resistence layer and for the same reason that moisturiser is used on our skins there is no nurturing of the surface. The result will be a loss of the tannins and resins from the surface which are ~flushed out~ possibly causing staining and leaving the surface without its colour.

If the product is not covered and is not oiled then it is impossible for it to not start undertaking what is essentially a natural process. Again due to the density of our timber this can be minimal and does take a lot longer than other less dense species however if it is for instance subject to a very significant amount of rain then the process will advance a lot quicker than it would otherwise.

If leaching occurs how is it cleaned off?

Where it has occurred the best advice we could give is a brick wash or paver wash from your local hardware store. Generally this is a simple brush on and hose off application however if this is not suitable then engage a contractor who specializes in cleaning down patios and driveways.