By following some simple outdoor furniture maintenance tips, you can avoid incurring additional costs for repairs or buying new outdoor pieces for a prolonged period, possibly spanning several decades. Importantly, these methods are all straightforward and achievable by anyone. Let’s learn how to preserve wicker furniture for outdoor use.
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How to Preserve Wicker Furniture for Outdoor Use?
Outdoor wicker furniture is susceptible to damage, often stemming from various factors including inadequate pre-processing, environmental elements such as high humidity leading to mold, and accidental collisions. To ensure the longevity of your wicker furniture for outdoor use, consider the following preservation methods:
1. Applying Waterproof Paint
To preserve wicker furniture for outdoor use, you can apply paint that helps to shield it against the detrimental effects of weather. Specific types of paint are designed explicitly for outdoor wicker furniture, ensuring optimal durability. The painting process should encompass the entirety of the furniture’s surface, encompassing the top, bottom, underside, arms, and seats. Reapplication of paint is recommended every three years.
To further waterproof the furniture, the completion of painting should be followed by the application of two coats of marine varnish for wicker furniture (such as Minwax Helmsman Indoor/Outdoor Spar Urethane (available from $10; Amazon)). Wicker is susceptible to moisture retention, and if moisture infiltrates beneath the finish, it can lead to damage of the fibers from the inside out.
Alternatively, individuals who prefer to retain the natural color of the wicker furniture can skip the paint step and instead apply three coats of marine varnish every two years.
2. Regular Cleaning
Balcony chairs are frequently exposed to various weather conditions, resulting in stains from dust, alkalis, acid rain, and more. These elements can negatively impact both the aesthetics and lifespan of the furniture. Hence, consistent cleaning plays a crucial role in removing these harmful agents.
You can use a brush and a cleaning cloth to remove dust and water from outdoor wicker furniture. By doing so, you can effectively preserve your outdoor furniture, maintaining its brightness and durability.
3. Placing Under Shelter
While garden tables and chairs, whether made from bamboo, rattan, or plastic wicker, are often designed to withstand rain, wind, and heat, frequent exposure to severe weather can significantly impact their condition. This exposure may lead to accelerated wear, fading, and quicker damage.
To ensure the longevity of your outdoor furniture, it’s advisable to position them under protective coverings such as awnings or umbrellas. This helps mitigate the effects of harsh weather. By doing so, both the color and functionality of the outdoor furniture will be preserved, ensuring prolonged usefulness for the user.
4. Utilize Cushioning
Are you surprised to learn that thin and lightweight cushions play a pivotal role in enhancing the preservation of outdoor furniture?
These soft and vibrant cushions not only enhance the chair’s aesthetics, creating a pleasant and comfortable experience for occupants, but they also alleviate pressure on the seating surface, particularly for furniture made from bamboo and rattan. As a result, the seating area is shielded from direct impact forces, effectively preventing sagging, peeling, and premature wear.
5. Prevent Collisions
To maintain the integrity, function, and aesthetics of any product, it’s essential to safeguard them against impacts that could cause distortion, damage, or loss of functionality. This principle holds true for outdoor furniture as well-regardless of the material it’s crafted from. Vigorous impact can result in scratches, and even deformations, ultimately compromising the quality of the product.
Hence, it’s crucial to exercise caution when handling and using outdoor furniture, both during transportation and regular use, in order to ensure its long-term functionality and preservation.
6. Shielding Outdoor Wicker Furniture with Covers
Whether opting for ready-made or tailor-fit wicker furniture covers, both provide essential protection against harmful sun exposure, heavy rainfall, and strong winds. For comprehensive safeguarding, these covers should extend down to the floor and fully cover the furniture legs. This approach effectively prevents water from splashing onto and potentially harming the furniture.
For those with the means, installing a retractable awning is a valuable solution. Extending the awning over the furniture on rainy days offers an additional layer of defense, shielding the furniture from detrimental precipitation.
Conclusion
Outdoor furniture items require diligent preservation to extend their lifespan. It is our hope that the above “how to preserve wicker furniture for outdoor use” insights shared by Thanhcongcraft have assisted you in discovering suitable methods to effectively maintain your outdoor furniture.
Check out for more: Is Rattan Furniture Waterproof And How To Enhance Its Water Resistance