How to Protect Garden Furniture All Year Round

Protecting your garden furniture is no easy task, especially here in the UK. With rainy winters and, well… rainy springs, autumns and even summers, ensuring your garden furniture remains in good condition is no easy feat.

In this post, you’ll learn how to protect your garden furniture all year round so you can enjoy those sunny days outside in style without worrying about the condition of your dining set or outdoor sofa.

 

 

Why is protecting your garden furniture so important?

Even though we get a lot of bad weather, there are also plenty of sunny days to enjoy our outdoor space. Garden furniture allows us to sit outside and really enjoy our garden, patio or even balcony. However, when furniture is placed outside, it is prone to wear over time – especially if the weather is particularly harsh.

If you protect your garden furniture properly, you can enjoy it for five or even ten years depending on how well it’s maintained. On the flipside, your furniture could be damaged beyond repair in just a number of years if you don’t take care of it.

How much effort you go to in order to protect your furniture will depend on how much it set you back. If you’ve opted for one of our rattan bistro sets or rattan lounge sets then you’re more likely to want to savor it than if you’ve gone for a cheap plastic set.

 

8 tips for protecting your outdoor furniture

Below are eight of our tip tips for protecting your garden furniture all year round!

 

Make sure your outdoor furniture is maintained well

General maintenance is obviously the first tip on our list for protecting garden furniture. The exact kind of maintenance your furniture requires will depend on the material and type of furniture, but there are certain steps you can take to maintain your furniture regardless of the type or material.

Make sure you keep your furniture free of any leaves or debris as much as possible. Most outdoor furniture will have a coating that protects against rain and moisture, but leaves and debris can cause the moisture to remain in contact with the furniture for extended periods of time which can cause staining or even damage, mould or rot.

 Secondly, giving it a clean once in a while will help prevent any build-up of dirt or mud. You can clean your outdoor furniture using a gentle brush or a cloth and some water. If it’s really dirty, a gentle soap works well too. Just ensure you wash it off properly after cleaning.

 

Move furniture indoors in the winter if it’s not being used

If your outdoor furniture isn’t being used, moving it indoors in the winter is a great way of protecting it and preventing it from getting damaged. Heavy rain and wind can certainly take its toll over time, but frost can be even more damaging – especially if ice builds up on the furniture itself.

Since most people don’t use their outdoor furniture very often in the winter months, moving it inside shouldn’t be a problem. A small garden shed or garage works fine so it doesn’t have to take up any space in the house.

 

Use covers in the spring and autumn

The spring and autumn are tricky since it’s common to get a few nice days where you can sit out in the sun, but there’s also a lot of rain, wind and sometimes even some light frost. Instead of moving it from indoors to outdoors every other week, using covers is a great option that provides protection without the heavy lifting.

Covers come in many different shapes and sizes and most are waterproof to offer good protection year-round. A good cover for your garden parasol as well as a set of covers for your table and chairs go a long way in keeping your furniture looking good for longer. If you really want to go the extra mile, you could even use covers in the summer. This can help prevent any UV damage from causing the colours to become less vibrant.

 

Don’t forget about your cushions

Your outdoor furniture cushions and other fabrics you use outdoors are generally one of the first things to get damaged. Storing cushions indoors when they’re not in use is probably the best way of keeping them clean and preventing mould and mildew. However, spray-on water/sun protection is also recommended.

These sprays prevent UV damage that causes colours to become dull and it can also help to make the cushions water-resistant.

 

 

Secure garden furniture

We have an entire post on securing garden furniture on our blog already, so we won’t go into too much detail here. However, securing your outdoor furniture is especially important if you have particularly expensive furniture sets, so this post is definitely worth reading if that’s the case.

 

Add a protective coating if necessary

Protective coatings aren’t always beneficial and they’re mostly suited to wooden or metal furniture. Varnishes and other protective coatings only have to be applied every few years, if that, and they can help keep your furniture looking good for longer.

Always make sure to pick a coating that’s suitable for your furniture’s material and always follow the instructions on the packaging for the best result.

All furniture will come with some kind of protection pre-applied, so this tip won’t be relevant until your furniture is at least two or three years old.

 

Protect it from UV rays

Although cushion sprays and a protective coating can help prevent UV damage to some extent, nothing protects from the sun’s rays better than shade. Placing your furniture somewhere that’s shady in the hours you don’t normally use it is a great way of reducing the number of hours it’s exposed to the sun.

For example, if you only really sit outside in the afternoon and evenings, if you place your furniture somewhere that’s shady in the morning you can reduce the time it’s exposed to the sun while still getting full enjoyment from it.

 

 

Take care when using it

Last but not least, it’s important to take care when using your garden furniture. Although this is a given and shouldn’t really need mentioning, it’s one of the most common causes of early replacement of outdoor furniture.

 

Conclusion

There’s a lot you can do to protect your outdoor furniture, but many of them are basic common sense. Reduce exposure to the elements and take care when using it and you’re already most of the way there. That being said, we hope that these tips will help you better protect your garden furniture.

If you have any questions after reading this post, or you’d like to learn more about the garden furniture we offer, feel free to reach out.