Step-by-Step Garden Furniture Cleaning Guide

Your garden furniture has spent the winter sheltering from rain, wind and the cold under a protective cover or in the dry confines of a shed or garage. With spring on the doorstep, now is the time to clean off the cobwebs and the detritus of winter. Restore garden furniture in four easy steps.

You want to enjoy the summer sun – when it appears! – and that means reclining in your garden sofa or dining al fresco, enjoying the heat of the day. But from garden dining sets to hardwood garden benches, you need to make sure you are using the right method and cleaning solutions so that you don’t damage your patio furniture.

Step 1 – Brush it!

In most cases, winter-stored garden furniture can be restored to usability with no more than a simple brush down.

Grab a clean, soft-bristled hand brush and give everything a good brush, concentrating on the corners and joints to work the dust and dirt loose. Once you’ve done that, leave it out in the garden for the breeze to also blow away any remaining cobwebs and dirt.

Top tip – dirt is abrasive so if you do nothing else, brush your furniture off as this stop small pockets of damage.

Step 2 – Give it a wash!

Best carried out on a breezy day to aid drying, giving your garden furniture a wash is a great way of giving it a lift.

How you do this will depend on what material your garden furniture is made from. As with all homemade or shop-bought cleaning substances, do a small patch test on an unseen part of the furniture so you can be sure it doesn’t damage the material. In most cases, it is probably best to avoid using a powerful jet wash on it.

• Metal chairs and tables – use a non-abrasive all-purpose cleaner solution in warm water and with a soft bristled brush, give the furniture a good wash. Rinse off with clean water.
• Softwood – use warm water and a little detergent but don’t scrub hard as the softness of the wood can be damaged.
• Hardwood – use warm water and a very dilute solution of a mild cleaner. Douse liberally and use a soft cloth or soft bristled brush to get the worst of the stains and marks off.
• Plastic – hot water and a good all-purpose cleaner will rid plastic garden furniture of almost anything.
• Rattan – either use a soft bristled brush or better still, vacuum it to get bugs from crevices and so on. A paintbrush works well too. Wash down using a damp cloth soaked in a dilute solution of detergent and warm water and leave to dry in the breeze before use.

Step 3 – Cushions

Some outdoor cushions and seating pads can be washed but there are a few things to bear in mind to keep their shower-proof abilities;

• Wash at 30° or less
• Don’t use fabric conditioner as this can prevent the fabric from being showerproof
• For stubborn stains, use a dilute solution of a stain remover and cold water and leave the stain to soak for 10 minutes before washing at a cool temperature in the machine.

Step 4 – The patio umbrella or gazebo canopy

What can happen as we hurriedly pack things away at summer’s end is that fabrics are actually damp. As they sit in their storage bags or containers, mildew and mould start to form.

As we unfurl them in spring, we are sad to see the streaks of green mould but, rather than chucking it away to buy new, your patio brolly and gazebo cover can be saved. Here’s how:

• Remove lose remnants and the top layer of the stain with a brush – use a hard bristled one but do so gently so as not to damage the fabric.
• Using warm water with a high-quality detergent and using circular motions with a brush dipped in the solution, gently rub the solution so it lifts from the fabric
• Rinse off with clean water – use a hosepipe
• Repeat the process a few times and allow to dry in the breeze – it’ll be as good as new!

This simple, yet effective tips are perfect for breathing new life into tired garden furniture. There are natural products you can use too if you don’t fancy using chemical cleaners, just make sure you get the right cleaning solution for the material.

Rattan Direct stock a growing range of fantastic garden furniture, all of which would look great in your garden. Follow them on Twitter.