As featured in Forbes and Yahoo Finance.
With the summer months approaching, many homeowners are thinking about entertaining and dining outside. But, what can be done about dirty, rusty and faded outdoor furniture?
“Shop Cop” Jennifer Litwin, author of “Furniture Hot Spots” and “Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever!” has these tips for sprucing up your outdoor furniture:
- Don’t buy new! You can replace chair fabric yourself. Since chair styles don’t change that often, it doesn’t pay to throw out the old chair that you love. You can replace the sling yourself for $60-75 per chair. A new sling chair usually costs more than $150, including the fabric. If you give provide measurements, the manufacturer can make the replacement piece for you and send you the simple hardware for you to put the sling on yourself.
- New life for old strap chairs: Surprisingly, styles haven’t changed much. Instead of throwing out old strap chairs and replacing them for hundreds of dollars (usually at least $200 a piece), you can buy your own straps for $2 – 5 each, and put new straps back on your existing frame For under $100, you can have new chairs, and put it together quickly.
- Treat outdoor fabric gently: Avoid using bleach on your fabrics and DON’T dip them into the pool. This will cause fabrics to fade and dry out. For clean up, use simple products like Fantastic, 409, or even mild dish soap.
- Remove rust from iron: Iron furniture often gets dirty and rusty. To clean, simply use a good car wax and buff with a soft cloth.
- Best new products to avoid rusting and fading: Coated plastic and titanium are popular new outdoor materials and don’t rust or blow away in the wind. Treated paints and foam products can be kept out year round, and can be used on tables and chairs. Heavier aluminums function like iron but don’t rust as quickly.
- Replacing fabric cushions: Notice I said “replacing” here. Usually, you can’t match the colors because the fabric colors fade over time, and color palettes change. Your best bet is to replace all the fabric on your outdoor pieces.
- Great website for more help: Chaircarepatio.com.
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