Patio Pleasures – How to Keep Your Rattan Furniture Looking Great All Season Long

1 September 2017
 Categories: , Blog

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Now that the summer season is almost here and the weather is getting warmer, it is time to bring out the outdoor furniture and get ready for those wonderful outdoor days and nights. If your patio furniture is of the rattan variety, cleaning and caring for it the right way could extend its life, enhance its beauty and help you get the most out of your investment.

Rattan patio furniture is always popular and for good reason. Rattan furniture is lightweight yet durable, making it the perfect choice for outdoor living. When the outdoor patio season is over, you can simply pick up the rattan furniture and put it in your garden shed or garage for the cold winter months.

When it is time to bring that patio furniture out of hibernation, you will want to give it a good cleaning. Even the most airtight shed or garage can harbour hidden dust and dirt, and cleaning it away is the best way to prevent damage to the delicate fibres that make up the rattan furniture.

Giving your rattan patio furniture a good spring cleaning is not difficult or time consuming. Just start by filling a bowl with water, then add a few drops of a mild dishwashing detergent and stir until bubbles have formed. Wet a soft cloth in the bubbles, then use those bubbles to clean the rattan surface. Cleaning with the bubbles only provides just the right amount of moisture without getting the delicate surface too wet.

Use an old toothbrush or a soft shoeshine brush for spot cleaning and removing dirt from crevices in the furniture. Again, dip the cleaning brush only in the sudsy bubbles for best results.

Once the rattan patio furniture has had its initial spring cleaning, you can keep it looking like new by repeating the process every week. Just mix up a bit of dishwashing liquid and water, generate plenty of bubbles and dip your cleaning cloth and brush in the bubbles to remove dirt without damaging the delicate surface.

If your rattan patio furniture has seen better days, you may need to do more than a quick spring cleaning. Fortunately, rattan furniture generally responds well to this kind of restoration, so do not fret if your patio pieces have not wintered as well as you hoped.

You will need to buy some linseed oil to restore cracked, dry or split rattan furniture pieces, along with a good brush. Just boil the linseed oil and apply it liberally with the brush. Continue to apply boiled linseed oil until the furniture cannot absorb any more of the liquid, then use a soft cloth to wipe it clean.

You can apply additional linseed oil to the rattan patio furniture as needed. Just make sure the previous coat has dried completely before applying any additional oil. A slightly damaged piece may require only a single application, while severely split or cracked patio furniture may need multiple coats before returning to its former luster.

Rattan patio furniture is valued for its light weight, its beauty and its durability. If you care for your rattan patio furniture properly and clean it regularly, you can look forward to season after season of outdoor fun.