Keeping your outdoor furniture clean and pristine is much more of a challenge than maintaining indoor furniture. Rain, sunlight exposure, wind, and other extreme weather conditions can significantly affect your patio furniture's quality, not to mention the frequent spills when dining outdoors, the scratches, and many more uncontrollable instances. All these things make your furniture look tired and less appealing. Want to preserve the beauty and quality of your outdoor dining table, chairs, and garden furniture for a longer time? Read through this quick guide to cleaning and maintaining your patio furniture.
Wooden Outdoor Furniture
Garden tables and chairs, sofas, tea sets, and many more outdoor furniture pieces are mostly made with solid wood. This hardwood furniture is easy to clean but a bit hard to maintain. Here are some ways you can clean your wooden outdoor furniture:
- Wipe dust and dirt with a damp cloth regularly.
- Remove stubborn dirt using a sponge, a soft brush, soap, and lukewarm water.
- Dry the wood surface thoroughly when finished.
Wood is prone to scarring, shrinking, developing mildew, and fading over time, so it's essential to carefully choose the chemicals you use to clean your furniture to prevent premature damage.
Maintaining the colour of your outdoor wooden furniture depends on your preferences. If you want to retain the vibrant quality of your furniture, clean it regularly and use an appropriate furniture oil or sealant. Natural oils can help maintain the durability of hardwood, especially during extreme weather changes. If you encourage the patina to fade to create a unique look, you may clean the wooden furniture less often. If you live in a warm, dry place, you need to clean your furniture more frequently.
Teak wood dining tables and chairs are known for their pleasing looks and weather-resistant quality. They only require minimal cleaning and sealing to preserve their colour. Be careful not to oil your teak furniture, as it may encourage mildew.
Metal Outdoor Furniture
Metal furniture is susceptible to rusting, especially when not taken care of correctly. Metallic furniture is very appealing and luxurious looking, especially when new, but requires more attention to cleaning and maintenance compared to wood.
Stainless steel and wrought iron are some of the most popular outdoor furniture materials since they are durable yet affordable. Here's how you can clean and maintain your outdoor metal furniture:
- Use a sponge or brush with mild soap when cleaning your metal furniture. Avoid using abrasive brushes, acid, and alcohol-based solutions.
- Spray lukewarm water on dirty surfaces and carefully wipe away the dirt.
- Dry the surface with an absorbent cloth.
Many metal pieces of furniture are treated with a rust-resistant finish to retain their quality for as long as possible. However, when rust is detected, brush the part accordingly and repaint or refinish your furniture to avoid unsightly rust. Be sure to check the furniture joints to prevent future problems.
Fabric Outdoor Furniture
Many outdoor seats come with cushions and fabric materials. Fabric is a highly versatile material in style, colour, and variety. That's why many furniture shoppers and designers prefer incorporating this material into their casual outdoor furniture designs. However, no matter how versatile this material is, it presents several challenges in terms of outdoor maintenance.
Since a wide variety of upholstered furniture materials are available on the market, a general and safe way to clean your fabric furniture is by washing it with mild soap and lukewarm water. If the fabric is removable, check if it can be machine washed before doing so. Air-dry the fabric to prevent wrinkling and stretching. Make sure to spot-clean your fabric material now and then to ensure there will be no stain build-up that will affect the quality of your upholstery over time.
All-Weather Wicker
All-weather wicker is a synthetic alternative that mimics the look and texture of natural wicker material. This material is helpful if you value the longevity of your outdoor furniture, as it can retain its quality even amidst weather changes.
You may wipe the surfaces of all-weather wicker furniture with a cloth and soap. You will also need a brush with thin bristles to clean the narrow spaces between the weaves. This synthetic furniture may be resistant to weather changes, but it can eventually develop mould and mildew when left unsupervised. Because of this, it's important to clean the furniture as soon as possible when exposed to extreme weather changes. All-weather wicker is relatively lower maintenance than other furniture materials, but it requires better cleaning attention.
Plastic Outdoor Furniture
Plastic stackable chairs are some of the most affordable and reliable solutions for furnishing your outdoor space. They are incredibly easy to maintain and highly versatile. When cleaning plastic outdoor furniture, make sure you're not using an abrasive cleaner to prevent scratches. Since plastic is a magnet for dirt, regularly clean your surfaces to preserve the furniture's quality. You can use a mild all-purpose cleaner to get rid of dirt. You can also use baking soda to tackle deep stains and chalky textures. Use wax or automotive cleaner to restore the shiny finish of your plastic outdoor furniture.
Laminate Outdoor Dining Table
Dining tables are prone to spills and direct contact, resulting in frequent scratching. We recommend using coasters and placemats to prevent the laminate from directly contacting warm or cold surfaces. When cleaning your laminate surface, use mild soap and a clean cloth to wipe off the dirt. Always wipe off spills and liquids to prevent mould buildup.
Glass Outdoor Dining Table
Glass is a popular material used for tabletops, whether for the dining table, tea set, or coffee table. Glass provides a luxurious look to any space. It is also non-porous and easy to maintain. While you can simply clean the glass surface with a tablecloth, you still need to be careful not to scratch the surface or leave prints that can be visually distracting.
Marble Dining Table
A timeless and elegant furniture material, marble is coveted by many homeowners and designers due to its unique appearance and subtlety. Marble is highly durable but may need regular sealing to maintain its beauty. When wiping the dirt from a marble surface, go for a non-abrasive cleaner to prevent scratching the surface. You will need to have regular professional sealing done to preserve the quality of your marble furniture.
Conclusion
Your patio is basically an extension of your home, so it's paramount to maintain the best quality of your outdoor furniture to make your home complete and more welcoming. While investing in outdoor furniture is quite large, we should take good care of our outdoor furniture to preserve the beauty of our investments longer.