Many Swiss people are spending their holidays in the garden or on the balcony this year and have therefore bought new garden furniture. We explain to you how to care for tables, chairs, lounges or sunbeds and protect them from wind, weather and air pollutants. So that you can still enjoy your new garden furniture next year.
Wooden garden furniture should be cared for regularly. Wood is nature. It swells, for example, as soon as moisture penetrates. Regardless of whether the wood is soft like beech, spruce and pine or hard like eucalyptus, rattan and teak. Furthermore, its surface roughens over time and the wood may even become rotten and break. If you want to protect the beautiful wood grain and colour from UV rays in the long term, you should apply a protective coating and renew it twice a year: once in spring when you start the outdoor season and once in autumn before you store your garden furniture for the winter. It is best to treat wood with oil because it gives it back its shine and colour and is natural. On the other hand, it does not protect against the effects of UV radiation.
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If you want to glaze and lacquer the furniture, you must first remove the old layer completely with fine-grain sandpaper or a sanding machine. Make sure to sand in the direction of the grain and be sure to protect yourself from sanding particles with a dust mask.
Plastic garden furniture gives less to do than wooden garden furniture. If you clean your furniture regularly, dirt will accumulate less quickly. Refrain from using abrasive cleaning agents that scratch the plastic and remove stubborn mould stains with vinegar. If you nano-seal your garden furniture, you will protect it from grease, oil, dirt or water in the long term and can simply wash off grease or oil stains with water. Important: Plastic furniture suffers most from UV rays and frost. Therefore, place it in the shade in summer and store it in a place protected from the cold in winter.
Metal garden furniture can rust. Especially in places where humidity acts, dirt is deposited or the lacquer coating is damaged. The easiest way to avoid corrosion damage is to place metal garden furniture in a rain-protected place or protect it from rain with a tarpaulin and clean it regularly. Minor damage to the paintwork can be repaired with a spray paint, while larger rust stains can be sanded away with a wire brush and sandpaper. A rust remover makes your work easier. Once the rust stain is removed, seal the area with a metal protection lacquer to protect it from new rust.
Rock garden furniture is the least work. If you place it in a damp or shady place, you should clean its surfaces regularly with washing soda so that they do not become porous. Carefully scrape away lichen or moss on the tabletop or bench, especially on smoothly polished surfaces, and remove spores with moss cleaner. The easiest way to do this is with a high-pressure cleaner, which you can also hire or borrow if you don't have one.
Of course you can dry your garden furniture after every rain. But that gives you a lot to do. Make life easier for yourself and protect your furniture with protective covers. In the meantime, a lot of garden furniture is sold with matching protective covers. If there are none (any more) for yours, you can find matching cover bonnets or protective covers in all sizes made of plastic or polyester in any garden supply store. Breathable and semi-transparent or coloured tarpaulins that also protect against UV radiation are best.
No cover protects 100% against humidity, so you should not cover your wooden furniture permanently and air the cover regularly.
