MAINTENANCE
IROKO
° Iroko wood requires little or no
maintenance. It can however be useful to
remove persistent dirt from time to
time, using water and a brush. We
strongly advise against using a high-
pressure cleaner, as this irreparably
damage the wood's fibres and the surface
feels rough.
° If you leave the wood untreated for a
long time, it will get a silver-grey patina.
If you want to maintain the wood's
natural colour, you should treat it with
teak oil or with another colourless wood
protection product (oil). Depending on
the climate, this should be done once or
twice a year.
This treatment maintains the wood's
flexibility, but is not necessary: it is up
to you to decide which effect you prefer.
Bear in mind however that even with an
oil treatment the colour of the wood will
change under the influence of UV-light
and moisture. To keep the surface nice
and smooth, we advise you to slightly
sand the wood every year.
° Should any cracks appear, you can
simply sand them down either by hand
using sandpaper or by means of a hand
sander. To protect the table legs, cover
their edges with highly robust masking
tape. Use 80-grit sandpaper and start at
the vertical side of the tabletop. Keep the
hand sander parallel to the edge of the
tabletop. Lightly sand the edge until it is
smooth again. Now sand the rest of the
tabletop. Make sure that you always hold
the hand sander parallel to the tabletop.
Do not only sand the crack, but the
entire tabletop to obtain a uniform
result. To avoid burrs, sand the top edge
of the tabletop by hand. When you have
removed all the burrs, you can treat the
wood with hardwood furniture oil or
leave it untreated, depending on the
desired effect.
° At first, the wood will give off this red
dye every time it comes into contact with
water. The dye that drips onto the frame
and the surface will remain water-
soluble and will disappear entirely after
a while.
We strongly recommend that you treat
your wood for indoor use with wood oil
to protect it from stains.
6
maintenance
IMPORTANT!
Wood is a living matter and, in spite of
the superior quality provided by Iroko
and H.O.T.wood, outdoors it constantly
has to adapt to extreme changes in
temperature and humidity. Due to
internal stress resulting from these
constant adaptations the wood "warps".
This warping can among other things
lead to cracking. Changes in colour or
wood structure may also appear. These
characteristics are typical of the material
and by choosing this material you accept
them.
GALVANISED LEGS + TUBES
° Hot dip galvanisation is the most
durable way of protecting metal against
rusting. If the zinc coating is damaged,
the exposed metal can rust. This can
easily be touched up with zinc paint that
automatically has the same colour and is
readily available in shops.
° Galvanisation is a thermal process that
can slightly deform the material. Other
metal protection methods do not have
this disadvantage, but the quality they
offer is insufficient.
BOLTS
° When the bancs are put in the highest
position, there can be an uneven
movement between the bench and the
table. You can rectify this through the
bolts at the underside of the bench, this
way, the distance between the bench and
the table will be similar everywhere. At
the side where the movement is the
smallest, you tighten the bolt until the
movement between the bench and the
table is similar everywhere. Now, you
tighten the nuts which are on the bolts,
so the bolts can no longer untighten.
TABLETOP
° The rustproof steel plate is a high-
quality polished plate protected by a
self-adhesive PVC film that must be
removed. The surface will inevitably get
scratched, even during normal use.
Mayor scratches can be avoided by never
moving uneven or rough objects over
the table's surface.
° Stains can also appear, but most of them
can be removed with generally available
stainless steel cleaning products. After
cleaning, but also immediately after the
removal of the protective film and the
rests of glue, you can apply a dirt-
repelling film by spraying a silicon spray
onto the plate and by spreading it out.
Never put stainless steel in direct contact
with metal as this can cause rusting.