How to Protect Teak Outdoor Furniture — Case Study

Phil had bought two covers from us before: a bench cover in 2023 and a round table cover that spring. This time the order came through the website with a note attached, and four photos followed by email.

The photos explain the note. Phil called it an unusual shape; the trade calls it a banana bench. It curves in plan, so the back is longer than the front. The seat is a crescent. The arms sit proud of the seat at both ends. A cover cut for a straight three-seater would bridge the curve and leave a pocket behind the back for rain to sit in.

Teak copes with rain. It does not cope with what rain leaves behind: algae on the top rail, bird droppings baked into the slats, a seat that never dries before the next shower. Phil's bench stands under a brick wall on the north side of the house. He wanted it covered, and covered to its shape.

Phil had ticked the lighter fabric on the order form, the one we sold when he bought his first cover. John moved him up to NylonSafe®, our 420D waterproof nylon, at no extra cost before drawing anything.

It is UV-stabilised and has a cotton-canvas texture rather than a plastic sheen. It is the fabric we put on most garden furniture. Nobody wants a cover that behaves differently from the last one they bought, so the change was explained rather than made quietly.

One more thing had to be asked. The order form takes four measurements. A curved bench needs a fifth.

A banana bench is described by its outside arc — the length of the back measured along the curve, from arm to arm. Width and depth alone would give us a rectangle. John sent Phil a one-page diagram showing where to run the tape.

That last sentence matters. Phil measured the bench itself, not the cover he wanted. We add the fitting tolerance ourselves, 25 mm as standard, so a customer who guesses an allowance and a customer who does not end up with the same fit. His numbers were 159.5 cm wide, 59 cm deep, 85 cm high at the back, 71 cm at the arm, and a 218 cm arc.

The same day, John drew the cover and sent it as PO-3431. It is a 3D view with every dimension on it, the bench photo in the corner, and the hem detail drawn separately.

Look at the bottom right of the drawing. The hem is shown with a drawstring, because that is what the order form said. Phil looked at the drawing more carefully than he had looked at the form.

The order had a drawstring on it, and a drawstring and eyelets do different jobs. John sent a photo of a drawstring hem so Phil could see what he had actually chosen, and asked which he wanted.

Four eyelets, one at each leg, no extra cost. This is the stage that exists to catch exactly this. A cover is cut once. A drawing can be redrawn as many times as it takes.

John removed the drawstring, added the eyelets at the legs and sent the drawing back within the hour.

Nothing was cut until that message arrived. Five days later Phil asked us to hold the parcel until he was back from holiday, so it went out on the day he asked for.

The cover arrived the day Phil got home. It went straight over the bench, arms and all, and the four eyelets lined up with the legs.

He said he had, and he had. Five stars, with the fitted photo above attached to it.

One bench, one shape that exists on one patio in one garden. Fitted first time, like his two covers before it.

That is what the drawing stage is for. Phil measured the bench and told us the numbers were exact. We drew it, he read the drawing, and the eyelets he had forgotten were added before a metre of fabric was cut. Nothing about that is luck. It is the same process every custom cover goes through.

If your bench is curved, or has arms, or is simply not the shape anyone sells a cover for, send photos and the measurements you have. We will draw it and send scaled diagrams back. Nothing is cut until you approve them, and if it does not fit when it arrives, we remake it free. Get your custom garden bench cover.