Straight answer: teak is the buy-once-cry-once option at 25+ years of life; acacia gives 10–15 years if you oil it every 1–2 years; PE rattan handles rain happily but starts looking bleached after 5–10 summers of hard sun; powder-coated aluminium shrugs off rust for 15–20 years and is light enough that one person can rearrange the whole patio solo. Match the material to your climate, not to the catalogue photo.
Shop the pieces in this guide
Teak: the 25-year veteran
Teak is loaded with natural oils and rubber-like compounds that fend off rot and insects without any help from you. Left bare, it silvers to an elegant grey — Gardening press from The English Garden to Bob Vila's outdoor guides consistently rank it the benchmark hardwood for outdoor use. The price reflects the patience of a 25-year tree, so budget accordingly; if you want the honey-gold look, an annual wash and a once-a-year teak sealer will hold it.
Acacia and PE rattan: the middleweights
Acacia looks like teak's fun cousin and costs about half, but it drinks oil — skip a season and it dries, checks and grey-out. PE rattan (the synthetic weave) is the rain champion: it doesn't mind a wet winter under a cover, though cheap non-UV-stabilised versions go brittle after 3–5 summers. Wipe it down in spring, check the weave tension, done.
Aluminium: the forget-about-it option
Powder-coated aluminium doesn't rust, doesn't splinter, and weighs 60–70% less than the same silhouette in hardwood — which matters more than you'd think the first time you drag chairs across a deck chasing the evening sun. Its weakness is cosmetic: a deep chip in the coating exposes bare metal, which corrodes in coastal salt air. Touch-up paint is a five-minute fix.
| Material | Lifespan | Care cycle | Weight feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teak | 25+ years | Wash yearly; sealer optional | Heavy, stays put |
| Acacia | 10–15 years | Oil every 1–2 years | Heavy |
| PE rattan | 5–10 years | Wipe spring/autumn; cover in winter | Light-medium |
| Aluminium | 15–20 years | Wash; touch up chips | Lightest |
Climate picks the winner
Rainy and shaded gardens: rattan and aluminium, because damp wood invites algae. Full-sun patios: teak or UV-stabilised rattan, and light colours, because dark powder coating can hit 60°C+ in July and sear the backs of unsuspecting thighs. Windy balconies: aluminium — teak loungers have been known to become kites. Whatever you pick, a breathable furniture cover doubles real-world lifespan for the price of a pizza night.
Cushions and frames: a two-part decision
The frame material gets all the attention, but cushions decide whether outdoor furniture actually gets used. Quick-dry foam and solution-dyed acrylic fabrics (the Sunbrella-type stuff) shrug off a surprise shower and hold colour 5+ seasons; standard indoor foam in an outdoor cover turns into a wet brick within minutes. Whatever the frame, plan on a storage box or bench chest for cushions if you get more than 80 cm of annual rainfall — which is most of Britain, conveniently. A £40 cover and a 270 L box extend a mid-range set life by years, making the material maths look even better.
A quick word on hybrids: many sets pair an aluminium frame with a rattan weave and call it the best of both — and for once the marketing is roughly honest. The aluminium carries structure and resists rust, the weave supplies the look, and the combined weight stays manageable. Check where the two meet: UV-stabilised fixings and a powder-coated contact surface are the details that separate a 10-year set from a 3-year one.
Keep reading
More dimension guides are in the collection, and the full index is on the furnolio journal.
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