Outdoor furniture is key to turning a garden into an extra room in the home to lounge with friends and family. However, as they're outside and subjected to all kinds of weather conditions, they can begin to look worn out faster than other pieces of furniture.
If you're bought from one of the best places to buy garden furniture, it’s more than likely that your outdoor furniture isn’t past saving just yet, and can be spruced up with a bit of time and effort. Whether your furniture of choice is made from wood, metal or plastic, fear not for there are options from cleaning your garden furniture to a few hacks to make it look like new ready for summer.
As Natasha Barwell-Jones, director of marketing and communications at Grangers International, notes: ‘We always believe that preparation is key, and preparing your outdoor furniture ahead of the spring and summer seasons will keep it lasting and looking like new throughout the unpredictable British weather for many years to come.’
Here are five hacks from interior designers and furniture specialists to instantly improve the appearance of your outdoor furniture. And the best part? They're all relatively easy to execute.
1. Clean your furniture down with natural cleaners
The first and easiest hack to making your outdoor furniture look like new is to give it a thorough clean using natural cleaning solutions. It can be tempting to use strong cleaning agents such as bleach to clean outdoor furniture, believing powerful chemicals are required to shift tough grime and dirt. But it’s better for the health of your furniture in the long run to use kind cleaners that won’t strip coatings, create chemical burns, or cause discoloration.
Alex Bridgman, CEO of Bridgman outdoor furniture, says, ‘At Bridgman, we believe garden furniture should offer enduring elegance as well as comfort, so keeping it looking in top form is essential. To achieve this, it’s best to avoid cleaning your outdoor furniture with harsh chemicals, as they can cause discoloration over time. A soft brush or cloth and a mild solution of warm water and a pH-neutral soap will remove most dirt without damaging finishes.’
The MR.SIGA Microfiber Cleaning Cloth Pack of 12 from Amazon are a great choice as the cloths are soft and won’t leave pieces of fluff on what you clean. Though if you’re cleaning furniture made from glass, the Purdy & Figg Microfiber Cleaning and Multipurpose Polishing Cloth Pack of 12 from Amazon may be more suitable for adding shine. Combine these with a neutral soap like the Frosch Neutral Cleaner from Amazon, and you’re all set to scrub your furniture.
Pro tip from Alex: Use a toothbrush to clean small nooks and crevices for a more effective, impressive-looking clean.
2. Remove any rust
If your metal outdoor furniture has developed rust, removing it is not only something that will make your pieces look better, but it’ll make them safer to use as well. It’s not ideal to sit on rusty furniture as it’s unhygienic as well as weakened from wear, so tackling rust as soon as possible is strongly recommended and will make your garden more inviting and relaxing.
Matthew Crawford, founder and head restorer at After Noah, says, ‘If your garden furniture is looking worse for wear, there are a few simple tricks to breathe new life into it. The trick to clean metal garden furniture is to remove loose rust first - using wire wool or a wire brush attachment on a drill works well. Once it’s smooth, apply a rust converter to stabilise any remaining corrosion, then follow up with a good quality metal paint (Hammerite is a solid choice) to protect it from future damage.’
This isn’t as tricky as it sounds: attach one of the Wire Brushes Set of 10pc from Amazon to the end of a drill, and hold it against the rust on your furniture to remove it through friction. Then, once the rust has been removed, apply some of the JENOLITE Rust Converter Spray from Amazon onto the areas where the rust was.
This will leave a protective, paintable layer and prevent any remaining rust particles from spreading. Lastly, you can optionally add a layer of metal paint designed to prevent rust. The Hammerite Metal Paint from Amazon comes recommended by Matthew, and no primer is needed to use the product.
3. Remove old finishes on wood
If your wooden outdoor furniture looks dull and weathered, making it look like new could be as simple as removing the old, worn coatings and stains and replacing them with new ones.
The team at Priority Polishes agrees, saying: ‘If your wood is looking tired and worn with marks etc., we recommend cleaning it back to bare wood by stripping it of its old coatings and stains.’
The simplest way to do this is to use something like the Paint Stripper + Wallpaper Scraper Set from Amazon to remove your furniture’s paint, coatings or varnishes, and then buff in some wood oil like the Rustins Original Danish Oil from Dunelm to bring vibrancy and moisture back to your wood. At a later date you can update it with a new coat of paint or varnish, depending on your desired aesthetic.
4. Sand out imperfections
Wooden outdoor furniture can get scratched and scraped without us even noticing it, making the pieces look worn over time. If the surfaces of your wooden furniture only have mild imperfections, these can be solved with merely two tools: sandpaper and wood stain or oil.
Sam Moseley, co-founder of Grain and Frame, says, ‘A simple but effective hack is sanding down the existing finish to remove scratches, stains, and discoloration, then reapplying a high-quality, weather-resistant wood stain or oil. Sanding smooths out imperfections and creates an even surface for the stain, enhancing both the color depth and protective qualities.’
Go over all of your wooden furniture’s surface with sandpaper, sanding with enough force to dull any existing sheen. Then, buff small amounts of wood oil or stain into the furniture using a microfiber cloth. Even if only part of your furniture requires attention, it’s best to sand over it all so one area doesn’t have a fresh coat of stain or oil and stand out from the rest.
5. Reupholster your soft furnishings
Old cushions and outdoor upholstery with dulled patterns or holes isn’t an uncommon sight, and you can try reupholstering them yourself - just keep in mind that they might not be fully waterproof anymore if you do. Another option is to invest in replacement outdoor cushions from Amazon, or Dunelm has some lovely options, which will be cheaper than replacing the whole piece of furniture..
Mike Durbridge, CEO of global design house Andrew Martin, says, ‘By replacing old, faded fabrics with the best outdoor fabrics and weather-proof materials, you not only restore the look of your furniture but also improve its comfort and longevity.’
In future, if you store your upholstered furniture or just the cushions away during bad weather, it should keep it looking brand new for even longer.
Will you be using any of these hacks to refresh your garden furniture before summer?
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