How do I protect my wooden garden furniture from weather damage?

Protecting your wooden garden furniture is an essential part of garden maintenance. By effectively taking care of your garden furniture, you are ensuring the beautiful wooden qualities are maintained throughout the years to come.

Clean Frequently

Something so obvious, yet something so often overlooked. Cleaning your wooden garden furniture is the most basic, yet most essential step to taking care of your furniture. The fundamental steps in terms of cleaning your wooden garden furniture include the following steps:

• Clean away any debris

• Brush down the wood

• Wash with warm soapy water

• Wipe down with a damp cloth

Regular Maintenance

Regular maintenance is essential to keeping your wooden garden furniture looking its best. The most important part of regular maintenance is simply checking in on your wooden garden furniture. It's important to keep an eye out for any signs of damage, cracks, wood rot, dirt or debris to ensure you can take care of this as soon as possible.

Treatment

There are an array of options when it comes to treating your wooden garden furniture; the core three options tend to be painting, staining or oiling. You can also choose to use a combination of these. When it comes to choosing a treatment, it's important to think about the advantages and disadvantages, but also to think about your personal preferences. For example if you prefer a more natural look, you may want to look at oiling and staining, whereas if you want something that pops, paint could be better suited.

Cover Your Furniture

To protect the wooden garden furniture, it's a good idea to use weatherproof covers to protect the wood. Weatherproof covers protect your furniture from the elements, such as rain, wind, snow and moisture. This is vital in terms of prolonging the health and quality of the wood. These are relatively easy to find and can be found in most garden centres, home DIY shops, or online.

Or Put It Under Cover

As well as covering your wooden garden furniture, you also have the option of putting your furniture under roofed cover. This could be anything from moving it indoors, putting it in the garage or putting it under a roofed area in the garden. It is also important to consider the conditions of the storage where your furniture will be stored. You should try to avoid anywhere prone to severe moisture or temperature fluctuations.