How to Clean Your Outdoor Furniture So It Lasts Year After Year

Keeping your outdoor furniture clean isn’t just about keeping up appearances or making it more enticing to lounge on. Routinely removing pollen, bird droppings, and mildew from these pieces can actually extend their lifespan.

If you’ve just invested in a new set and want to protect it, here’s an expert-backed guide on how often to clean your wicker, plastic, metal, and wood patio furniture, cushions and all.

 How Often to Clean Different Types of Outdoor Furniture

Aside from occasionally dusting it off before you sit, you should give each piece a good deep clean at least twice a year. Yesenia Soto of 30 Seconds Cleaners recommends cleaning your outdoor furniture once when you remove it from storage, and again right before you store it.

“Items stored through the winter tend to accumulate dust, moisture, or even mold,” she says.
“We also recommend cleaning it again before storing it for the colder months, since it likely picked up dirt and grime during regular use.”

Andy Wu, founder of outdoor furniture company Backyard Oasis, recommends the following cleaning schedule for different outdoor furniture materials:

• Wood: Clean every month, seal every year.
• Wicker: Every week when the pollen count is high.
• Metal: Wash every two weeks, but treat any rusty spots immediately.
• Plastic: Wash with a degreasing dish cleaner every month.
• Stone: Wipe weekly and seal every three months.
• Upholstery: Wipe down and spot clean cushions weekly when the pollen count is high.

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Why Regular Cleaning Matters for Outdoor Furniture

Even if you take all the measures you can to protect it, outdoor furniture still has to withstand the elements. Both Soto and Wu stress the importance of regular outdoor furniture cleaning as a first-line defense against wearing down its protective coating.

Bird and insect droppings, acidic pollen, humidity, salty air, tree sap, and grainy dirt can all wear down protective finishes on your outdoor furniture, so removing these nuisances quickly is key. Once the protective coating is gone, rust and mold can break down your furniture’s structural integrity faster than you’d think.

4 Tips for Keeping Outdoor Furniture Clean Longer

Luckily, there are some steps you can take to keep your outdoor furniture cleaner for longer and make deep cleaning it easier in general.

• Use protective covers when the furniture isn’t in use, and store cushions indoors or in a waterproof deck box.
• Avoid placing furniture under messy trees with bird nests or that drop sap or berries.
• Apply wood conditioner or baby oil on wood furniture, car wax on metal furniture, and sealant on stone.
• Rotate out furniture sets seasonally.

One last thing to keep in mind is that some outdoor furniture gets less dirty by design.

“Furniture made from weather-resistant materials like powder-coated metal or synthetic resin holds up better to the elements and is easier to clean seasonally,” Soto says.

FAQ

• The best way to remove mildew from patio cushions is by using a fabric-safe mold and mildew spray. If the cushions have a removable cover, you can finish off the cleaning process by running them in the washing machine or handwashing them.

• You can pressure wash most types of outdoor furniture. Always do a spot test first, and when in doubt use the gentlest setting.