You must have heard about Ipe wood. Ipe wood is basically from Bignoniaceae genus and it can be described as a dense Brazilian hardwood that is used essentially for exterior residential and commercial structures. The key features of Ipe wood are density, durability and performance. It is air dried hardwood and therefore is resistant to moisture, fire and insects. In fact, it is movement resistant as well and lasts two or three times more than other outdoor woods like redwood, pine and cedar. As far as the best outdoor use of Ipe wood is concerned, it is best used to carve out outdoor furniture.

If you are keen on purchasing a few pieces of Ipe wood furniture for your patio, you need to know how you should take care of them. Since Ipe wood furniture usually come with natural finish, with light coat of linseed oil applied on them, maintenance requirements are pretty minimal. However, the kind of maintenance that your Ipe wood furniture will require will depend on where it has been placed. If you place the furniture in an area where it receives complete exposure to the elements of weather, you can either let the wood weather naturally or you can apply on an oil finish to the furniture at times. Oiling is rarely needed for Ipe furniture that is placed in shaded areas. Even if you do decide to oil the furniture using linseed oil, you should do it for a maximum of 2-3 times in a year.

Linseed oil is quite expensive and you will be able to purchase it from any hardware store. All you will have to do it apply some linseed oil on a piece of oil and after about half an hour you can wipe off the excess. Let the Ipe furniture weather for a couple of weeks before the initial oiling.