Materials and Finishes      Click on any underlined word to give you more info.

I'm going to keep it simple

Woods best for outside furniture Teak and Oak. Both hardwoods both expensive both very resistant to weather. A finish for teak would be Teak Oil. For oak nothing.

Cheaper alternative Pine. Softwood not particularly resistant to weather but can be coated with polyurethane varnish to protect it, you could use paint to change its colour. Another softwood could be cedar You could use a preservative on both these woods to protect them from rotting.

Metals best for outside would be Stainless Steel, Steel and Aluminium Alloy. Stainless does not need a finish. Steel needs painting or Powder Coating. Aluminium alloy needs Painting.  Powder Coating or Anodising.  A quick way of coating steel is dip coating

Steel rusts fairly easily and good finish to put on it before painting would be Galvanising although there are other forms of plating.

Plastics are great for outdoors in your own garden but can easily be vandalised in parks. Plastic furniture does not need a finish because it does not rust, it is though usually coloured. Most common types of plastic could include:

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). (Recycling here)

The furniture is usually injection moulded in smaller parts and fixed together using galvanised nuts and bolts.                    

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Oils such as teak oil which soaks into the surface of the wood and brings out its natural colours. Unfortunately you have to be careful with liquid spills and hot items coming into contact with it.

Polyurethane Varnish provides a very tough coating which stops moisture, resists hot items and brings out the beauty in wood since it is clear (I suppose you could call it clear paint).

Wood Preservative is usually a chemical which you paint on wood. It soaks into the grain and has the effect driving off water.

Paint (spray in industry and hand painted from a tin in school) can be any colour to fit your colour scheme and stops rusting. Epoxy paint is made from epoxy glue and coloured. Its very hard wearing.

Anodizing. This involves making aluminium shiny and dipping it in caustic soda to 'open its surface structure'. This done, dye (felt tip will do) is rubbed into the open structure and then it is sealed in by dipping it in boiling water.

Plating. This involves using some sort of electrical method (electrolysis) to put a thin coat of one metal on top of another less attractive metal, or to stop the coated metal rusting. The most common are chrome plating,  (chromium coating on the top of either steel to stop it rusting and make it look very shiny) (or on the top of brass such as taps to keep them shiny so you don't have to keep polishing them. Galvanizing, which is coating steel with zinc to stop it rusting.  I'm sure you have heard of gold and silver plating but these are not likely to be common with the garden furniture.