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With the start of the new gardening season, it is not just a matter of preparing the lawn and beds, planting flowers and cleaning the pond, but also getting the garden furniture ready for the summer. And although modern outdoor furniture is quite durable and resistant to wind and weather, the right care always pays off. Depending on the nature and surface, garden furniture requires different cleaning and other care measures. In the next few lines, we will tell you what is important and what you should consider when it comes to wood, metal and plastic.
Care for garden furniture properly and prepare for summer
Wooden garden furniture
Regardless of whether it is a bench, dining table, chairs or a whole garden set of furniture, you should prepare outdoor furniture made of wood well for the coming season every year and oil it regularly. In principle, garden furniture is always made of types of wood that are fairly weather-resistant and defy moisture, heat and direct UV radiation.
The most common of these are teak, eucalyptus, cedar and robinia. It is advisable to clean the garden furniture with a lye made from natural soap in the spring after you have taken it out. Use cotton cloths, soft brushes or a sponge. Microfiber cloths, on the other hand, are not suitable.
Don't overdo it with washing your wooden garden furniture!
If the wooden furniture is too dirty, you can use the garden hose or a pressure washer. However, apply the second from a distance of at least 50 cm. After fully rinsing and cleaning, you should dry the wooden surface nicely with a soft cloth. Wooden garden furniture also develops a silver-grey patina over time, which in most cases looks rather unattractive. To get rid of these, you can sand the surface with fine sandpaper (100 to 120 grit). The wood dust can be optimally removed afterwards with the help of a vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth.
The wooden furniture is then oiled. In principle, care oils are either colorless or pigmented (colored). However, transparent oils offer no protection against UV rays compared to colored ones. After you yourself Once you have decided on the right oil, apply it to the clean, dry wood surface with a soft cotton cloth or brush. It is best to let the furniture dry out in a shady place for a few hours and then polish the wood so that the protection is even better.
It depends on the right care!
Metal garden furniture
Cleaning and caring for metal outdoor furniture is a lot easier because it is also much more robust and often has a fairly durable coating. Metal garden furniture is made of aluminium, steel, cast iron and wrought iron. As a rule, most have a so-called powder coating and this can be cleaned very easily. It is difficult for dirt to stick to it. Before the new outdoor season starts, check whether the coating on your metal garden furniture is intact. In any case, you should touch up cracks and damage with a repair varnish so that the beautiful pieces do not rust. Rusted areas, on the other hand, should definitely be sanded down and primed.
When cleaning your metal garden furniture, especially if it is made of aluminium, do not use coarse brushes or scouring agents. Otherwise you run the risk of scratching the coating and causing rust and other pollution.
Extra tip: Car wax is pretty good for metal furniture. Apply this to the metal surface with a soft cloth after cleaning. You can also treat the hinges with a silicone spray to make them even more durable.
Outdoor furniture made of cast aluminum has been very trendy lately
Plastic garden furniture
This material is one of the cheapest and easiest to care for. That is why it is very often preferred when buying garden furniture. The robust poly rattan included. Plastic generally tolerates rain and moisture quite well, but direct sunlight and frost have a bad effect on the material. If the furniture is left in the sun for too long, it will fade or yellow over time. On the other hand, temperatures that are too low can cause cracks in the material, which then lead to more dirt and fragility.
Regular cleaning is generally highly recommended for plastic furniture. The best way to clean them is with lukewarm water and a soft washing-up liquid. Garden hoses and high-pressure cleaners come to the rescue again for heavily soiled furniture. Next special plastic cleaners from specialist shops, you can also help yourself with some well-established household remedies. Toothpaste, vinegar and lemon as well as washing powder are the most popular of these. You can add the vinegar or lemon directly to the cleaning water. Toothpaste and washing powder are applied to the soiled surface with a microfiber cloth and rinsed off after a short exposure time. You can also use baking soda in the same way with white plastic garden furniture.
Extra tip: Finally, it would be optimal to impregnate the furniture with a car polish spray for interiors. This way the water rolls off more easily and dirt particles don't stick to it as easily.
Polyrattan is one of the popular plastics for garden furniture
No matter what materials your garden furniture is made of, they all deserve proper care. After the autumn gardening season, it is better to stow away the furniture in the basement, in the garden shed or in the attic. Treat them with love and enjoy the summer in the garden, on the terrace or on the balcony.
Make sure your garden furniture is properly impregnated!
They will thank you for it
Pigmented care oils protect the wood from UV radiation
For an even more professional treatment of the wood, you can use special degreying devices
And summer can come!
