Two tips to follow if you want to give your garden furniture a makeover

If you'd like to give your garden furniture a makeover, here are some tips to follow.

Be cautious when painting or varnishing your outdoor furniture

Painting or varnishing your garden furniture is a great way to change its appearance. However, you must be cautious when doing this, to ensure that you don't do anything that might lead to problems with this furniture. For example, you must ensure that the paint or varnish you use is made for outdoor objects. If it isn't, it won't look good for long and it may gradually lead to the furniture you apply it to being damaged.

For example, if you use interior furniture paint on your garden chairs, and this paint isn't, therefore, waterproof and doesn't offer any UV protection, the paint will probably rapidly fade after being exposed to the sun and may even wash off or get patchy after it gets rained on. Furthermore, if you add indoor varnish or paint to, for example, a sanded wooden patio table, and this layer deteriorates, the sanded, exposed wood that this layer is supposed to cover might rot, as there will be no barrier protecting it from the rain or humidity.

Additionally, when painting your furniture, make sure that you avoid adding too much paint or varnish to its screws or hinged brackets as once this layer dries, it could make these components very difficult to turn or move. This is particularly important if, for instance, you use foldable garden chairs, as using too much varnish or paint on their hinges could make them so stiff that you can no longer fold them up.

Consider using a pressure washer on your outdoor furniture

One of the challenges of keeping your outdoor furniture looking good is that it tends to get dusty and dirty much faster than indoor furniture does. However, the good news is that furniture that's made for the outdoors also tends to be extremely robust and, therefore, is usually safe to clean with pressure-washing equipment. Using a pressure-washer on your dirty outdoor furniture could quickly revive its appearance, without you having to laboriously scrub down each furniture item (this is particularly important to note if you have, for example, a rattan furniture set that has lots of nooks and crannies, and could take many hours to clean by hand). A pressure washer could remove virtually all of the dirt from your outdoor furniture in minutes.

If you decide to do this, it's important to ensure that you take a few precautions. For example, even if your outdoor sofa has seat cushions with water-resistant covers, it's still best to remove the cushions before pressure-washing the sofa, as the equipment's powerful water jet could still penetrate the covers and saturate the inner filling. Additionally, if any of your furniture is damaged (for example, if one of the legs of your patio table is slightly wobbly), you should avoid pointing the water jet at this area, as it could exacerbate this issue.

For more information on garden furniture, contact a professional near you.

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