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Polywood furniture is known as being robust to the sunlight, and has started appearing in some UK garden centers recently. But is it worth it? Are the claims of the Polywood manufacturers accurate? We’ve here to find out how good Polywood chairs really are.
What is Polywood?
Polywood is a material comprised with HDPE Polywood™ lumber, designed to withstand the elements in your garden. It comes with a limited 20 year warranty (we’ll get to the limits later), and comes in a range of chairs, benches, tables, and sun loungers.
Where can you purchase Polywood?
In the UK, there are a small handful of online retailers of Polywood, and they require pre-orders, to give them the cash flow to ship large quantities of the product over from America. If you want your product now, Polywood isn’t the one for you, you will have to wait.
Polywood Chair
The most well known Polywood chair is the Classic Adirondack Chair, which has a relaxed back, and two upright arm rests, with a sloping seat to give you a reclining position. It’s available in blue, black, green, yellow, red, grey, and orange.
Polywood Bench
The most well known Polywood bench is the Vineyard Plastic bench, which has to moderately sized arms, fairly wide slats, and comes in grey, black, green, brown, and white.
Wood-look garden benches are very popular, however the Polywood range is limited in this respect.
Summary of Polywood Online Reviews
The Pros of Polywood
- Heavy duty – definitely heavier than a wooden bench.
- Sturdy – they are strong, and feel settled when using them.
- Easy to assemble – man made products don’t warp or bench.
- Teak colour is rich and looks appealing.
- Recycled material is good for the environment.
The Cons of Polywood
- Uncomfortable – if you buy the standard back on the chair, it’s very upright, and feels like you’re being squashed into the chair.
- Stiff and rigid – you cannot drag it, as it’s prone to damage by vibration.
- Questionable weatherproofing – there have been several reviews on Amazon suggesting they don’t look too good after a few years.
- Retailers hiding behind manufacturers warranty, while manufacturer points to retail outlet.
- Expensive in comparison to alternative furniture.
(review summaries taken from Amazon).
Alternatives?
Main alternative to Polywood:
As we’ve mentioned on this blog before, the range of Winawood™ furniture is our best buy for all weather garden furniture, and after this review it still sits in 1st position. You can find out more info about Winawood™ by clicking here.
(Video coming soon)