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Teak vs acacia garden chairs

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are choosing a hardwood for a patio that stays wet from October to March, and the two chairs in the photo look almost the same. Teak vs acacia garden chairs is a winter decision, not a colour decision. Choose teak if the chair must stay out. Choose acacia only if you will cover it and store it. Eucalyptus sits nearer the acacia side of that split. Beech that folds into a cupboard is a different purchase. The [Garden chair wood](/hub/garden-furniture/garden-chair-wood) comparison does not contain a teak dining chair or an acacia chair among the three listings we kept. This page is the species choice. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are choosing a hardwood for a patio that stays wet from October to March, and the two chairs in the photo look almost the same. Teak vs acacia garden chairs is a winter decision, not a colour decision.

Our top picks

Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares beech folding chairs

Best overall

Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares beech folding chairs
8.8/10about £49.99
View offer
Relaxdays Relaxdays wood and cast iron garden chair

Best value

Relaxdays Relaxdays wood and cast iron garden chair
7.8/10about £100.78
View offer
BrackenStyle BrackenStyle Melton wooden bar chair

Rank 3

BrackenStyle BrackenStyle Melton wooden bar chair
4.0/10about £95.00
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Leave it out or bring it in
  2. 2.Oil, colour, and grade
  3. 3.What you pay on amazon.co.uk
  4. 4.When it is not this choice

Leave it out or bring it in

The split is whether you have a shed, a breathable cover, and the habit of using them. The Royal Horticultural Society says oily hardwoods, teak among them, can stay outside. Teak weathers to grey. You wash it about once a year and keep the feet off standing water. Acacia is not in that oily list. Kingsley Smythe puts teak on the stay-out side and acacia on the side that wants a winter cover or a shed. If the chairs will sit uncovered because there is nowhere else for them, teak is the recommendation. If you can use a ventilated shed, acacia can be the cheaper hardwood. The care page is the routine once you have chosen. A folding beech pair is a chair you store, which the folding wooden garden chairs page covers.

Oil, colour, and grade

Teak goes grey if you leave it, and that grey is normal. You oil it only when you want the honey colour back. Oil on acacia is protection as well as colour. Grade A is a seller's description of a clearer teak grade, not a British Standard. Kingsley Smythe talks about teak lasting for decades and acacia for around a decade. Sloane and Sons includes about 20 to 30 years for Grade A teak and a shorter life for acacia. Those are retailer judgements, not a test on a named chair. FSC or PEFC does not decide whether you need a shed. None of the three chairs on our main table is sold as teak or acacia. The buying guide is where seat height and unnamed hardwood sit beside this species choice.
Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares beech folding chairs

Testsieger

Harbour Housewares Harbour Housewares beech folding chairs
8.8/10about £49.99
View offer

What you pay on amazon.co.uk

The premium is real, and it moves. In October 2026, amazon.co.uk shelf examples outside our kept set included a Moia teak folding chair at £73.93, a vidaXL teak pair from £103.99, and a Jati Grade-A banana chair at £175. IKEA's acacia folders on ikea.com/gb were £15 and £25, with care text that tells you not to leave them out unprotected. John Lewis listed a Terra teak pair at £599 in that shop, which is not an amazon.co.uk price. Those numbers are a picture of the gap, not a market average. Our kept chairs are a different basket: Harbour beech folders at £49.99 for two, Relaxdays at £100.78, and the Melton bar chair at £95. None of those three is the teak or the acacia this page is about.

When it is not this choice

Eucalyptus behaves more like acacia than like teak. It wants a preservative or oil through the year. Beech is the indoor-storage case. The Harbour pair is lacquered beech with a store-indoors line, at a price that looks like a teak saving until you read the bullets. Resin, HIPS, HDPE, and polypropylene chairs with a printed grain are not wood. If a joint splits under you, that is a fault to take up with the seller under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. When you will cover and store, acacia is reasonable. When you will not, pay for teak or keep the chair inside.

Common questions

Is teak or acacia better in the UK?
Teak is the better choice when the chair stays out in a British winter. Acacia is reasonable when you will cover it or put it in a ventilated shed and you will oil it. The RHS puts oily hardwoods such as teak on the leave-out list. Retailers who sell both describe acacia as the one that wants winter protection. There is no single winner if you hide the storage. The condition is the recommendation.
Can acacia stay outside all winter?
Not as a plan. Kingsley Smythe's UK guide says acacia wants a cover or a shed, and IKEA's acacia folding chairs tell you not to leave them out unprotected. A dry week in summer is not November to March on open slabs. If you have no cover and no shed, choose teak, or bring a different chair indoors.
How long does each wood last?
We do not have a lab life for either timber. Kingsley Smythe talks about teak lasting for decades and acacia for around a decade. Sloane and Sons includes about 20 to 30 years for Grade A teak and a shorter life for other woods. Quote those as shop judgements. A star rating on amazon.co.uk is not a 30-year test.
Does teak have to be oiled?
No. Un-oiled teak goes grey, and the RHS calls that normal. Oil is for the honey colour, not a requirement for the timber to stay outside. Acacia is different: oil is part of looking after it, along with a cover or a shed. Using one tin on both, then expecting teak to stay silver and acacia to stay gold, mixes two jobs. Wash teak yearly either way, and keep the feet off wet ground.
Is eucalyptus closer to teak or to acacia?
Closer to acacia for a UK winter. It is a faster-grown hardwood that wants a yearly preservative, which is how Ideal Home groups it with acacia, against teak as the expensive leave-out timber. It is not a reason to skip oil and a cover, and it is not a quiet substitute for Grade A teak left on the patio.

Related pages

Which wooden garden chair fits

Wooden garden chair

Best wood for garden chairs in a wet British winter

How to treat wooden garden chairs through a UK winter

Folding wooden garden chairs that fit the cupboard

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison, last checked on 22 October 2026. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved for this set. There is no laboratory test. Retailer lifespan lines are seller judgements, not a test.

  1. RHS, maintaining garden seats and tables (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. BS EN 581-2:2026 outdoor seating tests (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. BS EN 581 series, seating and tables (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. JYSK UK, wooden garden table and chairs care (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Harbour Lifestyle, care for wooden garden furniture (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Kingsley Smythe, teak versus acacia (seller guide) (retrieved 22 October 2026)