Prepare your Patio Furniture for the winter

For many people, the patio is the most comfortable and the most enjoyable place in their house. And for such people, it is quite sad to acknowledge that with autumn approaching, the evenings will get colder from now on and so it will most likely have a last dinner outdoor with their family. Do you belong in this category? To be able to enjoy the most memorable dinners and drinks outdoor with your friends and family the next spring season, you must invest a few minutes of your busy time in winterizing the furniture on your patio.

Prepare your patio furniture for the winter:

• Step 1: Clean the furniture on your patio
• Step 2: Polish or wax the furniture on your patio
• Step 3: Wipe and dry the upholstery of the furniture on your patio
• Step 4: Don't forget the umbrella above your patio
• Step 5: Cover the furniture on your patio or carry it indoors for storage

There is no doubt that the furniture on your patio is designed to resist heat and water from rain and shine, yet it is important to protect it against heavy snowfall. Neglecting the furniture on your deck can dramatically shorten its original lifespan. To ensure that the furniture on your patio serves you for many years to come, you must adequately winterize it by following this simple step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Clean the furniture on your patio:

There is a great chance that bird droppings, spider webs, dry leaves, pebbles, and feathers settle down on the furniture on your patio. If you are a really neat and tidy person, no doubt that you have a habit of regularly dusting, wiping, and cleaning the furniture on your patio. This will help you save a lot of time and effort during the last moment of cleaning just before winterization.

Leaving the furniture on your patio covered with mud, dust, and dirt will lead to unpleasant stains and corrosion. Neglecting the furniture on your patio will need costly repairs or replacement.

The furniture on your patio is constructed mainly out of 6 different materials:

– Mesh:

It is very easy for dirt, dust, dry leaves, small stones, bird droppings, seeds, feathers, and spider webs to get easily trapped in the mesh patio furniture. You can wash it using a pressure washer at low pressure or use a shop vacuum to remove these sticky objects.

– Plastic:

Plastic is the softest material used for the construction of the furniture on your patio. To clean it, you must make sure that you use a soft bristle brush with gentle and mild strokes. You must use a non-abrasive detergent, otherwise, it will leave unpleasant scratches on the outer surface of the plastic furniture on your patio.

– Wrought iron:

Most of the furniture on your patio is constructed out of wrought iron or other similar metals that are sealed with powder coat finish to make them waterproof and weatherproof and to protect them against winter weather. While cleaning it, you must make sure that you don't create any scratches on this seal of powder coat finish. Use a soft piece of cloth or cleaning pad, which is non-abrasive to clean it to prevent any harm to the paint.

When you have wiped it clean using a mild household detergent dissolved in a bucket full of water, you must make sure that you air dry it under the sun or use a towel to dry it with your hands. If you leave the metallic furniture on your patio wet, the water will cause a lot of corrosion and lead to rusting, which will, in turn, reduce the weight lifting capacity of the furniture on your patio.

– Wood:

Wood is the material that is most prone to attack from pests like termites, bark beetles, wood borers, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, horntails, and powderpost beetles. An attractive set of Adirondack chairs is costly, and you cannot allow the pests to eat them over the winter season. To prevent the attack of the pests, you will have to use a good wood filler in the existing holes and condition the wooden furniture on your patio.

A bucket full of hot water with some non-toxic soap dissolved in it, and an old toothbrush will help you completely remove the mud, dirt, and excessive oil from the wooden furniture on your patio. After cleaning the wooden furniture on your patio, you must make sure that you fully air dry it. No moisture should be left on the furniture on your patio before winterization.

If any part of the wooden furniture on your patio needs staining, sanding, polishing, or painting,  this is the perfect time to carry out this task. You must remember that the air during the winter season is often completely dry, which leads to the splitting, chipping, cracking, and discoloration of the wooden furniture on your patio, so you must remember to apply some wood oil or mineral oil to it, to keep it from becoming brittle.

– Wicker:

Wicker patio furniture is constructed out of either synthetic rattan or organic rattan. Mostly your wicker patio furniture is sealed to resist water and to protect the material using some polish or finish. To maintain the shine and the gloss of this polish, you must clean your wicker patio furniture using a mild household detergent dissolved in a bucket full of warm water and smooth cloth.

You must never use abrasive sponges or pads to clean your wicker patio furniture because it will damage the upper coat of the polish, thus exposing the furniture on your patio to rain and shine.

– Glass:

It is straightforward to clean the glass tabletop of your outdoor dining table. Ensure that you use a non-abrasive cleaning pad and an old toothbrush with soft bristles to clean the glass tabletop, to prevent any scratches from forming. A mild household detergent dissolved in a bucket full of hot water and a smooth piece of clothing will not harm the smoothness and the shine of your glass tabletop.

Step 2: Polish or wax the furniture on your patio:

If you see any scratches caused by the claws or the paws of your pets on the furniture on your patio, you must at once repaint it, polish it or add a layer of reliable wax to make it waterproof and weather-resistant again.

Step 3: Wipe and dry the upholstery of the furniture on your patio:

It would be best if you did not forget to wash the covers of the cushions of the furniture on your patio before winterizing it. If the covers of the cushions of the furniture on your patio are not removable, you can wipe them away with a damp piece of cloth soaked in a mild household detergent. Before winterizing the furniture on your patio, you must make sure that you repair any holes, worn patches, or torn seams in the upholstery of the furniture on your patio.

After washing or wiping the upholstery of the furniture on your patio, you must make sure that you completely dry it in the sun, before carrying it indoors for storage. 

Step 4: Don't forget the umbrella above your patio:

Remember to remove the umbrella from your dining table as it will tip your dining table over when there is a sudden gust of strong wind. The blanket of snow can be very heavy, and your fragile umbrella will not carry it for long.  It will collapse and get damaged beyond repair. This is why you must fold and move the umbrella indoors before the winter sets in.

Step 5: Cover the furniture on your patio or carry it indoors for storage:

First of all, you must fold all of the foldable pieces of furniture on your patio to save as much space as possible. For this, you will have to remove the fragile and decorative pieces, stack up all the chairs, deflate the inflatable elements, and remove the removable upholstery of the furniture on your patio. Then you will have to invest some money in a reliable waterproof and weatherproof cover for the furniture on your patio. If there is a lot of space inside your shed, basement, or garage, then you can easily carry and store your patio furniture there. But if you live in an apartment or a little condo, don't worry, a cover will protect the furniture on your patio against the harshness of the winter season.

It would be best if you did not forget to winterize your patio dining table with a glass tabletop. If your dining table has low quality or poorly manufactured glass tabletop, it can shatter for two main reasons:

1. Wind: The strong wind in the winter season will bring the branches of trees or small stones in a large quantity and throw them on your glass tabletop
2. Temperatur: Freezing and thawing temperatures will leave your glass tabletop disconnected from its frame or pockmarked.

I would recommend you to carry your glass tabletop indoors because sudden fluctuations in temperature will lead to it cracking.

Final remarks

To conclude this blog post, I would say that you must invest some time in the winterization of your patio furniture.