How to clean garden furniture properly?

As soon as the weather permits in the spring, the terrace or the balcony is done cleaning and the garden furniture from the garage, the basement or attic fetched. But before you can make it yourself comfortable it is necessary to clean the garden furniture. Due to the different materials of garden furniture, you also have to choose different cleaning and care applying methods..

Whether garden furniture made of plastic, metal, wood or rattan, weather conditions such as heat, UV radiation, rain, wind, storm or even frost and other environmental influences may harm any material. However, natural materials such as rattan or wood are somewhat more susceptible and thus more demanding in terms of care than furniture made of plastic or metal. In general, however, it is important to regularly clean all types of garden furniture and provide them to protect against weathering with a suitable good care product.

Getting Started

At the beginning of the season should you first sweep any garden furniture with a hand brush to remove dust and loose dirt. Then dampen the garden furniture with a mild soapy solution or detergent solution and a soft cloth to remove all deposits and dirt films. If stubborn stains or discoloration appear, or if dirt has already settled deep in the material, special cleaning agents suitable for the respective material are required.
Attention: Under no circumstances may the surface of the material be roughened and damaged when garden furniture is cleaned, as this will allow dirt to penetrate into the material much more easily and quickly. In general, you should never use abrasive cleaners, aggressive cleaners, solvent-based cleaners, scratchy sponges, or brushes to remove stains, edges, or stains on your garden table, garden chair, garden bench, or garden lounger.

Plastic garden furniture – cleaning and care

Plastic outdoor furniture is usually very sturdy, easy to clean and, with appropriate handling, regular cleaning and proper care, also has a long service life. Even moisture does not harm plastic furniture. However, too much sun or UV radiation causes the material to become brittle over time and the color fades, and white plastic garden furniture turns yellow or gray easily. In particular, this affects armrests, table tops and plastic sheets. Also frost could cause damages and therefore patio furniture from plastic should be protected in winter time. The material will get cracks, in which then again dirt can settle well.

Because plastic likes to combine with dirt, regular cleaning of garden furniture is essential!

A normal contamination of plastic furniture can be removed with warm water and detergent or all-purpose cleaner. Coarse dirt and heavy soiling can be removed from good, sturdy plastic furniture with a pressure washer. For cheap products, however, you should be a bit careful and, alternatively, grab the garden hose instead. Furthermore, there are special commercially available plastic agents to eliminate heavy dirt deposits or discoloration on the garden furniture. In addition, discolorations and stains on plastic garden furniture can be removed with home remedies such as vinegar, washing powder or toothpaste. Simply put the vinegar or vinegar cleaner in the warm cleaning water, take a soft cloth and wash the plastic furniture with it. Moisten washing powder or toothpaste or apply with a damp microfiber cloth to the corresponding contaminated areas and after a short reaction time, rinse thoroughly with clear water. Home remedies such as baking soda are well suited to getting white plastic garden furniture clean again. Put a little baking soda on a damp cloth, rub in the affected area with it, allow to soak in for a short time and then rinse with clear water. Even a dirt eraser can be quite helpful in removing stubborn stains from plastics. If the surface of plastic garden furniture has become roughened and dull over time, you can either treat it with a special plastic protectant or with a spray for care of car interiors. Apply the plastic or car spray with a soft cloth, rub well and allow to settle.

How to clean and maintain modern wooden garden furniture?

Meanwhile, wood garden furniture made of durable hard woods such as teak, robinia, eucalyptus or cedar. These woods contain essential oils, which provide natural protection and extra treatment is not essential. But so that exclusive garden furniture made of weather-resistant hardwood look permanently well-kept and stay beautiful for a long time, but a regular cleaning with some natural cleaning agents and from time to time an oiling is recommended.

Use gentle means to clean wooden furniture

The best way to clean modern garden furniture made of wood is in the spring time at the beginning of the season, once in between in early summer and then again in autumn, when the garden season is over or before they are taken to the winter storage. As a cleaning agent, a soap made from natural soap is ideal, because natural soaps contain vegetable oils, which not only have a cleansing, but also a moisturizing effect. In addition, you should take to clean teak furniture and other garden furniture made of hard wood a brush, a sponge or a cotton cloth. Microfiber cloths are not suitable for cleaning wood furniture because they suck oil from the wood. So that no soapy water remains on the wooden furniture, wipe it off with a dry cloth after cleaning.

Use oils for care, impregnation and protection against graying

Can be dirt such as glass edges or stains no longer completely be removed with mild soapy water, it is time to treat the wooden table again with care oil to refresh the resistance of the surface.

If wooden garden furniture is not oiled at least two to three times during the annual gardening season (depending on the location), a silver-gray patina forms over time on the wood surface as a result of weather conditions such as moisture and UV radiation. Both the natural patina and fine cracks in the wood, however, neither affect the stability nor the life of the garden furniture. Often this effect is even desired! However, those who would like to prevent the graying of the wooden furniture in the garden, they should oil each after cleaning in the spring, in the course of early summer and again several days before storage in the fall.

What to consider when buying and applying care oil?

Whether garden chairs, garden benches, a garden table, a lounger or a wooden swing from wood. To maintain teak furniture and other wood garden furniture, you can use either a colorless or a colored (pigmented) oil. In contrast to the colored oils, however, colorless oils offer no UV protection and therefore no protection against graying. So that the natural wood protection on garden furniture such as tables, chairs and benches made of teak, robinia, cedar or eucalyptus remains, care oils for wood furniture should always be solvent-free. The best way to do this is by oiling the garden furniture with a brush, pad or cotton cloth, leaving it to work for a few hours in the shade for drying out and for enhancing the effect of the impregnation Oil is completely drawn in, polish.
Note: Wooden garden furniture should always be cleaned first before it is treated with maintenance oil, otherwise dirt and oil will stick together, making it easier for dirt to accumulate in the future and for the wooden furniture to be contaminated more quickly. In addition, oiling uncleaned furniture causes the dirt particles to stain the wood dark gray.

Sanding down heavily injured wood garden furniture

If wooden chairs, a wooden table or a wooden bench outside in the garden are already weathered and gray or have a rough surface, it is advisable to sand every piece of furniture after cleaning with a fine sandpaper (grain size 100 to 120) and without much pressure. After sanding, remove the detached particles completely with the vacuum cleaner and rub the garden furniture with a cotton cloth or microfiber cloth. Then treat the wooden furniture with a suitable care oil.

How to clean and maintain metal garden furniture?

Garden furniture made of aluminum, iron, steel and other metals are generally provided with paint, a powder coating or clear lacquer. As a result, the terrace or balcony furniture weather resistant, very robust, largely rust-free, easy to clean and fairly durable.

Aluminum garden furniture cleaning

Garden furniture made of aluminum are lightweight, suitable for all weather conditions and absolutely easy to clean. Soiling such as dust or bird droppings on aluminum furniture can simply be sprayed off with the garden hose or washed off with a mild soapy solution and a soft cloth. Then wipe with a dry cloth. Rough cloths or sponges and scouring agents are not suitable for cleaning aluminum garden furniture because they scratch the soft aluminum. To protect the garden furniture from frost, you should keep them in winter in the garage or in the basement.

Steel garden furniture cleaning

Garden furniture made of coated iron or galvanized steel are stable, weatherproof, durable, rustproof and easy to clean. Even strong sun, heat, moisture, cold or frost and also a slightly coarser treatment can not harm the steel furniture. To make the robust garden furniture look beautiful and well-kept, you should wash it off with soapy water and a cloth every now and then, then rub dry with a cloth.

To keep garden furniture made of metal permanently beautiful and intact, you should occasionally after cleaning with a soft and lint-free cloth apply some car wax to the furniture surface. In order to maintain the hinges and slides, silicone spray is quite useful.

Cleaning cast iron or wrought iron garden furniture

Cast iron and wrought iron garden furniture are now also considered very robust and need only be cleaned at regular intervals with a suitable detergent and a soft cloth. A rust formation is mostly prevented thanks to modern manufacturing methods.

No matter what material garden furniture made, it is generally best, if you store the outdoor furniture in the winter time somewhere protected or you use a heavy-duty protection cover.