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How to Effectively Take Care of Your Outdoor Furniture

The Maids Cape Cod • May 23, 2014

Your outdoor furniture is designed to handle considerable abuse by environmental elements, but winds and rain can still leave a demand for cleaning. Aside from that, if you have children; you’re already familiar with the mess that their sticky fingers can cause to your patio set. No matter what kind of furniture you own, you will need to learn the best way of cleaning it.

The Effects of Weather on Patio Furniture

You porch furniture is always under the effects of weather, which includes:

  • Heavy rains together with strong winds thatwork hard to destroy your furniture by causing damage.
  • Hot temperatures during the summer season, which melt or soften some furniture materials and cause them to reshape if left unattended.
  • Cold weather during the winter season, which can cause freezing snow and ice on the furniture, making it crack or become brittle. Additionally, the cold can gather snow on the surfaces and cause damage.
  • Wind during the Fall season, which causes leaves to drop onto your patio, creating algae and ugly stains on the surfaces.

There are a lot of things that outdoor furniture withstands. That is why you need to take special care of your patio furniture. The following tips will help keep them clean and maintain the best possible condition.

Cleaning the Surfaces

There are lots of household chemicals and cleaners on the market for cleaning patio items. Some are multipurpose, while others can be used on plastic, metal, brass, vinyl, stainless steel, bronze or a combination of any of these materials. There are also special cleaning products for wooden materials. The most common porch and patio furniture products are made of vinyl or plastic. This is basically because of their affordable production costs, so theyare considered throwaway items. Nevertheless, there are a variety of vinyl and/or plastic surface cleaners that work great, but you may find products labeled specifically as vinyl or plastic patio furniture cleaner.

Another very effective cleaning method involves lemon juice and vinegar. Mix a cup of each product to a cup of hot water. The resulting solution should be used on outdoor furniture fabrics that have really tough stains to get out. It also works for patio furniture that has mold and mildew build-up or other dark/tough stains.

If everything else fails, you can try other cleaning agents like magic erasers, bleach solutions, stain guard solutions, and so on. You can also try various tools to clean the surfaces, such as toothbrushes, soft wire brushes, scrubbing sponges, etc.

If none of the above methods work, you can just paint it! You will findspecific paintsdesigned for plastic and vinyl surfaces at your local paint or hardware store. Some may be labeled as patio furniture paint, but most are just designed for general materials. Irrespective of the product description, a vinyl or plastic paint will work fine given that you follow the directions listed on the container. Study the adhesion properties to determine how sticky the paint is and then choose your gloss, prep the patio, and start painting your new look!

If you have a need for other cleaning tasks like room cleanups, emergency cleanups, scheduled house cleaning, or simply just general cleaning; The Maids of Cape Cod in Massachusetts can help. 

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