Mango wood is the timber of the mango tree, Mangifera indica. It is a hardwood: at 675 kg per cubic metre and a Janka hardness of 1,070 lbf, it is as hard as teak, close to English oak and twice as hard as Scots pine. It makes good indoor furniture. It is less suited to outdoor use, because it rots and attracts insects more readily.
Most of our bedside tables are solid mango wood: 73 of them, from 20 to 55 cm wide. This guide gives the figures behind that wood, taken from the Wood Database and from our own catalogue. It also covers what those figures mean for a table that stands beside your bed.
Updated 11 October 2026 by Serge.
Mango wood in numbers
The Wood Database lists mango as native to tropical Asia and Oceania. The tree grows 24 to 30 m tall, with a trunk usually under 1 to 1.2 m across. Its timber is graded like any other.
| Wood | Janka hardness | Average dried weight |
|---|---|---|
| Mango | 1,070 lbf (4,780 N) | 675 kg/m³ |
| European beech | 1,450 lbf (6,460 N) | 710 kg/m³ |
| English oak | 1,120 lbf (4,980 N) | 675 kg/m³ |
| Teak | 1,070 lbf (4,740 N) | 655 kg/m³ |
| Black walnut | 1,010 lbf (4,490 N) | 610 kg/m³ |
| Rubberwood | 960 lbf (4,280 N) | 595 kg/m³ |
| Scots pine | 540 lbf (2,420 N) | 550 kg/m³ |
Janka hardness is the force needed to press a steel ball 11.28 mm across halfway into the wood. The higher the figure, the harder the surface is to dent. Mango sits with teak and oak, a little above walnut, and about twice as hard as Scots pine.
Is mango wood good for furniture?
For indoor furniture, yes. The figures above give the reasons, and they also show its limits.
- It is hard enough for everyday use. A lamp base, a phone or keys will dent it about as easily as oak or teak, and much less easily than pine.
- It takes a finish well. The Wood Database notes that mango "glues and finishes well". That is why the same tree can be sold as chestnut, light, walnut or near-black.
- It is not an outdoor wood. The Wood Database rates it "anywhere from moderately durable to perishable", and says it is "susceptible to both fungal and insect attack". Keep mango indoors, away from damp.
- It moves with the air. Like all solid wood, mango shrinks as it dries. From freshly cut to fully dry, the Wood Database measures 5.5% across the growth rings and 3.6% along the radius. In a bedroom, the movement is far smaller than that, but it is uneven when one side is hot and the other is not. So stand a solid wood table a few centimetres away from a radiator, not against it.
- No two tables match exactly. The grain can be straight or interlocked, and the wood often has streaks. Two tables in the same finish can differ in tone and figure.
Is mango wood a hardwood?
Yes, in both senses. Botanically, "hardwood" means timber from a broadleaved flowering tree, and the mango is one. In use, its hardness of 1,070 lbf puts it among the harder common furniture woods, as the table above shows. Some hardwoods are soft (balsa is a hardwood) and some softwoods are hard, so the botanical term on its own tells you little. The Janka figure tells you more.
What colour is mango wood?
Raw mango heartwood is golden brown. The Wood Database adds that "yellow and streaks of pink and/or black can also occur". Spalting, a staining caused by fungi in the wood, can add darker lines. Curly or mottled grain is common.
Most furniture is stained or oiled, so the colour you buy is the finish. Across our mango tables, the finishes are:
- chestnut, on 27 versions;
- light, on 23 versions;
- a few darker or warmer finishes that the maker calls California walnut, roasted almond, honey caramel, amber oak, winewood oak and velvet mocha.
The light finish the maker calls "oak-ish" is still mango wood, not oak.
See them side by side in mango wood bedside tables, or by tone in light wood and dark wood.
How heavy is a mango wood bedside table?
We weighed nothing ourselves: these are the makers' published weights for the tables we sell.
| Width | Tables | Weight, median | Weight, range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 cm | 4 | 3 kg | 2.5 to 3.5 kg |
| 30 cm | 10 | 6.75 kg | 4.5 to 17.5 kg |
| 45 cm | 19 | 11.5 kg | 7.5 to 16 kg |
| 55 cm | 5 | 16.5 kg | 12 to 20 kg |
| Wall-mounted, 30 to 45 cm | 14 | 5 kg | 3.5 to 10 kg |
Weight alone does not tell solid wood from board, though. The four 45 cm engineered wood tables we sell weigh 10 to 13.6 kg, which is in the same range as the mango ones. Drawers, legs and the thickness of each panel matter as much as the material. If a table has to be solid wood, look for those words on the product page. Each of ours states its material.
Is mango wood sustainable?
There is no simple answer, and there are no published numbers for any one table. Here is what is on record:
- Mango is not listed in the CITES appendices, the international list of species whose trade is controlled.
- The IUCN rates the wild tree as "data deficient". That is not because it is rare: the tree is grown so widely that wild and planted trees are hard to tell apart.
- The Wood Database calls the wood "very eco-friendly", because "some mango plantations harvest the trees for lumber after they have completed their useful fruit-bearing lifespan".
Note the word "some". Our makers do not publish where each tree came from or why it was felled, so we cannot tell you that a given table came from a retired fruit tree.
Where does mango wood come from?
Mainly from the countries that grow the fruit. In 2023, the world produced 61 million tonnes of mangoes, mangosteens and guavas, and India grew 43% of them, ahead of Indonesia and China (FAO figures). The maker of most of our mango tables states on its own site that it makes them in its own workshop in Jaipur, India.
Is mango wood expensive?
As timber, no. The Wood Database puts plain boards "in the moderate range for an imported lumber". Boards with curly figure, spalting or strong colour cost much more. As furniture, the price depends more on the work than on the wood. Our solid mango bedside tables run from £90 to £406. The price goes up with drawers, carving and inlay, and with marble tops.
Mango wood or rubberwood?
The two are easy to confuse. Both have large, open pores, and the Wood Database notes that both "are seen on imported finished furniture". Rubberwood is a little softer (960 lbf against 1,070) and lighter (595 kg/m³ against 675). If a listing says only "solid wood" or "hardwood", ask which tree it is. Ours name it.
Questions
Is mango wood good quality?
As a material, it is solid hardwood as hard as teak and close to oak. The quality of a given table then depends on how it is made: the joints, the drawer runners and the finish.
Does mango wood scratch easily?
No more easily than oak or teak, which have nearly the same Janka hardness. Like any wood, it can still be scratched.
Can mango wood be used outside?
Not well. It is rated from moderately durable to perishable, and it is prone to fungal and insect attack. Keep it for indoor furniture.
Why does my mango wood table look different from the photo?
Because the wood varies from tree to tree, with streaks and changes in figure. A stain narrows the differences, but it does not make two pieces identical.
How do you clean mango wood?
Our makers do not publish care instructions, so we do not add our own. The one point the wood's figures support is the one above: keep a solid wood table off a hot radiator.
What size mango wood bedside table do I need?
Measure the gap beside your bed and take off 2 cm. Our mango tables come from 20 to 55 cm wide, most of them 30 or 45 cm. The bedside table dimensions guide covers every size, and the height guide explains how to match the top of your mattress.
Sources
Hardness, weight, colour, durability, shrinkage, price and sustainability notes: The Wood Database, Mango, with the same figures for English oak, teak, black walnut, European beech, rubberwood and Scots pine. World production: FAOSTAT, crops and livestock products, 2023. Weights, finishes and prices: the makers' published data for the tables we sell, October 2026. Shop the range: mango wood bedside tables.