wood, resin, steel or plastic?

Whether it is wood, plastic, woven resin or metal, regular and annual cleaning of your garden furniture will allow you to keep it longer, both from an aesthetic and quality point of view.

Exposed to high temperatures, the vagaries of the weather and its many users, garden furniture needs extra help, in addition to the use of a protective cover.

1. Cleaning wooden garden furniture
2. Cleaning woven resin garden furniture
3. Clean your steel outdoor furniture
4. Clean outdoor plastic furniture

1. Clean wooden garden furniture

Wooden garden furniture is often made from different types of wood: teak, eucalyptus or mango wood for exotic woods; theand oak, walnut or pine for locally sourced wood.

Whatever the species, wood is a “living” material that must be cared for regularly to maintain its warm appearance. In fact, over the years, wood will tend to become gray and opaque.

How to maintain wooden outdoor furniture?

1. Brush the wood with a stiff bristle brush: The first thing to do is to remove dust, dirt particles and other dirt embedded in the wood fibers. Then brush again with water and neutral soap (such as Marseille or black soap).
2. Rinse thoroughly with clean water
3. If necessary, remove stains. To do this, use fine-grained sandpaper, rubbing in the direction of the wood fibers. Using turpentine will also help you remove grease stains.
4. Leave your garden furniture to dry

Finally, you can choose between applying a degreaser, linseed oil, a dye or using specific products for the wood of your garden furniture, depending on the effect you want.

Wooden outdoor furniture, whether a dining table, garden furniture, bench or wooden armchair, does not particularly require a protective cover. However, if you want to protect it with a cover, its fabric must be breathable and ventilated. It must also be stored in a dry and ventilated place, away from humidity.

Read our article: How to add light decorations to your terrace?

2. Clean your resin wicker garden furniture

Resin wicker garden furniture is known for its aesthetics, durability and ease of maintenance. Flat, round woven resins or simply polyrattan, this material aims to imitate rattan, for its natural and friendly side without the disadvantages.

It is Made with recycled plastic and allows you to obtain numerous color shades for a chic and natural atmosphere. Woven resin is particularly used for the creation of armchairs, chairs and garden furniture.

The maintenance of woven resin garden furniture is within everyone’s reach.

1. Remove dust with a vacuum cleaner and a soft bristle brush. Due to its structure, resin wicker easily accumulates flying dust, crumbs and other daily dirt.
2. Clean with warm water and slightly soapy water. Next, clean your outdoor furniture. For any stains, using black soap is a good natural solution.
3. Rinse thoroughly and leave to dry

Preserve and protect your living room, chairs and armchairs with a protective cover

Don’t forget to maintain the screws and clean the steel and/or aluminum structure to avoid corrosion.

To avoid: garden furniture and any other woven resin furniture should not be cleaned with a hard brush because it risks scratching and ruining its appearance irreversibly. The use of abrasive solvents and bleach is not recommended.

Read our article: 5 criteria for choosing the right outdoor lighting

3. Clean your steel outdoor furniture

Chic, retro, modern or country, we can give many adjectives to steel garden furniture. Steel, in fact, has the particularity of giving a totally different style to your garden depending on the design of the furniture.

Whatever its style, steel garden furniture is appreciated for its durability.

Made of iron, galvanized steel, aluminum or stainless steel, they are treated to offer great resistance to external conditions.

How to maintain steel garden furniture?

1. Use a sponge and warm, soapy water and scrub your outdoor furniture. To avoid streaks, wring out the sponge well.
2. Rinse the furniture with clean, warm water
3. Clean with a dry cloth to avoid leaving marks

As for woven resin garden furniture, the screws (often made of steel) must be treated with a specific anti-corrosion product.

For wrought iron furniture, its maintenance and cleaning requires more attention. Raw material par excellence, wrought iron needs to be brushed and cleaned of dust and above all treated against rust. A quick and simple solution (depending on the condition of your wrought iron furniture) is, after a good brushing, to clean it with soapy water and ammonia. Once it has dried completely, you can apply a protector such as paint or varnish to protect it from moisture and prevent rust.

For stainless steel furniture, in whole or in part, the movements must be in the direction of the grain of the stainless steel at the risk of scratching it.

For aluminum and stainless steel furniture, using water mixed with white vinegar will restore its shine. Once cleaned, simply rinse and dry them.

4. Clean outdoor plastic furniture

Plastic outdoor furniture is still popular in the garden furniture market.

Practical and lightweight, plastic garden chairs, tables and deckchairs allow you to furnish the garden, often at low costs.

In terms of cleaning, they offer very simple maintenance!

A simple sponge and warm soapy water are more than enough to clean them.

If your plastic garden furniture is white, but has yellowed over time? Using white vinegar or baking soda it will help you give it a second life.

To maintain plastic garden furniture for a long time, regular cleaning is necessary to maintain its shine.

Practical tip: You can repair PVC and plastic garden furniture under a pergola or shade sail to prevent it from fading under the effect of the sun’s UV rays.