With the proper care and maintenance, your wooden garden furniture can be used by your children and grandchildren. Learn more about basic care.
To take the absolute best care of your wood outdoor furniture, you need to take into consideration the climate in which you live and the type of wood your furniture is made from. However, that being said, there are some basic care and maintenance tips that you should adhere to, no matter your exact climate and the exact wood of your furniture:
• Covering and storing – during any months in which you do not plan on using your furniture, you should store it away in a shed or garage, place it beneath an overhang, and/or cover it.
• Manufacturer’s instructions – if you have bought your furniture new, then it should come with some care and maintenance tips. Be sure to save and follow any such information that you find. These tips and tricks trump any that you read within this article!
• Sun and rain – while sun and rain may be the best possible friends of your garden, they can be considered enemies of wood furniture. Think about covering your furniture before a storm and keeping it in the shade or beneath the overhang of a porch – of course, properly protecting your chairs and tables can lesson the need for such precautions.
• Protectants – at the beginning of each season, take your furniture out use a protectant on it. What you use depends greatly upon what type of furniture it is. You may use stain, paint, preservatives, and/or wax. Be sure to thoroughly read the label of any products that you pick up – make sure that it will work well with the type of wood you are protecting, and make sure it is made for outdoor use.
• Wipe down – it is a good idea to get into a habit of wiping down the furniture every week. Just use a dry cloth.
• The legs – keep them out of grass which can log them with a lot of moisture over time, sometimes rotting the wood. As an added precaution, fill up four cups with a wood preservative and place the four legs of the chair or table, etc. into them. Leave them there for a few hours, until the preservative is well-soaked into the wood. Do not neglect the legs of your wooden furniture!
• Cleaning – once a month (and certainly before you put the garden furniture away for the winter), take a moist and soapy cloth and wipe down the furniture. Make sure that you completely dry it off afterwards. If necessary, use a wood cleaner.
Once your outdoor wood furniture is clean and protected, you can start thinking about what types of garden decor to pair it with to make it really become a comfortable and stylish piece within your yard.
