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Tips for Restoring Your Patio Furniture

Introduction

When your patio furniture starts to look worn out and shabby it brings down the overall aesthetics of the gorgeous patio you’ve built. Fortunately, you can search for “furniture repair near me” and hire professionals to fix it and restore it back to its former dignified self. Otherwise, you can take the DIY route and tackle the job on a personal level.

Tips & Tricks

  1. Restoring wooden patio furniture – To restore wooden patio furniture, you need to start by removing the old finish. In most cases, the weather does half the job and loosens most of the original finish. You just need to accelerate the process so that you can stain or paint the furniture the way you want. Get a power washer and remove dirt, debris and large flaking pieces of the old finish stuck to the furniture.

Once the furniture piece is cleaned off, wait for it to dry completely. Once it is dry, get a sanding sponge with a high grit and sand along the grain of the furniture. If you want to save on manual labor and quicken the process, you can also rent out an orbit sander. After the old finish is completely sanded down, remove residual dust with a damp rag.

Next, it’s time to paint or stain the furniture piece according to your preference. Choose a stain or paint that provides excellent weather protection and after that, it’s all about the color of the paint or the darkness of the stain that suits you. Whatever paint or stain you choose, will come with instructions on the can.

While adding a new coat of stain, it’s best to apply it with a clean rag and only use brushes for tight spaces and corners that can’t be reached with the brush. Brush bristles agitate the wood and may make it absorb more stain than you want. That’s why it’s recommended to use it as little as possible. On the other hand, a clean rag allows you to apply a uniform and smooth finish without unpredictable ruins and dips.

If you choose to paint the furniture, a thick brush with fine bristles is the better choice due to the paint’s higher viscosity. Make sure to use a good primer before applying the paint. That way the paint would stick to the wood for a longer time and would be less susceptible to flaking. After the staining or painting job is over, let the furniture dry outside under the shade. Keep it away from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

  1. Restoring plastic patio furniture – Similar to wood furniture restoration, restoration of plastic patio furniture starts with a thorough cleaning. Get a dry rag and start removing dirt and cobwebs from the furniture. Once all the loose debris has been removed, grab your power washer, set it to a high-power setting, and blast the furniture with the spray. Make sure you get to the hard-to-reach spots and clean off the dirt from tight corners.

If there’s stubborn dirt on the plastic, you can get some extra help from a regular household item, baking soda. Wet the plastic furniture and scrub it down with a nylon brush. After that, sprinkle some baking soda on the dirty spot and use a sponge to wipe it away. If the dirt is stuck to tight corners and other inaccessible spaces, you can sprinkle some baking soda on a toothbrush and scrub those spots.

If one session of scrubbing doesn’t get the job, rinse and repeat and it should come off eventually. The greatest advantage of baking soda is that it’s low on harshness and won’t harm the plastic in any way. You can scrub it away without any worries. After the dirt is gone, use the power wash again at a lower setting.

For the final step, you can add a layer of protection to your plastic patio furniture. If you want to change the look of the furniture, you can coat it with a new layer of paint. Otherwise, you can use car paste wax on it. Follow the instructions on the wax label and apply it to the furniture piece. Once the wax is set and hardened, the furniture can be used.

  1. Reupholster the furniture – If you need to reupholster your outdoor furniture, start by taking accurate measurements. While you measure the cushion and other elements, keep a few inches extra as overhead so that you have room to correct your mistakes. Next, visit a fabric store with your measurements and choose a fabric hat that suits your style. Make sure that the fabric is rated for outdoor use and can stand up to the constant abuse of wind, sun, rain, and dirt.

Try not to choose a bright color if your furniture is going to be under sunlight for most of the time. Instead, choose muted and neutral tones like white, gray, and brown. If you have furniture with bright red upholstery sitting under the sun all day, it will develop a dull tone within weeks or months.

Once you have the fabric, it’s time to sew. If you have a sewing machine, you can sew the new fabric over the old cushions and get rid of the old layer. Otherwise, you’ll have a tough manual job that may take hours. On the other hand, if there are no cushions and delicate pieces that need to be handled, you can get the job done with a glue gun. Rip off the old layer, get rid of residual glue and put on the new fabric with the glue gun. You should be done within an afternoon.

Conclusion

Patio furniture pieces aren’t just accessories sitting on the deck. They define the overall style and look of your outdoor region. You can follow the above-mentioned steps and restore them back to their former state or outsource the job to a professional and save your precious time. To hire a pro for the job, you can search for “furniture repair near me”.

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