Outdoor Furniture Maintenance Tips

Outdoor Furniture Care & Maintenance

Sunbrella fabric care and cleaning
Keeping Sunbrella fabric looking its best is simple and easy.

For normal cleaning use a sponge or soft brush to apply mild soap and warm water to the fabric. Rinse thoroughly and air dry. For stubborn stains or mildew add one cup of bleach per gallon of soap and water. Apply directly to the stain. Use a sponge or soft brush to clean. Rinse thoroughly and air dry. If necessary, repeat with additional bleach.

Always rinse thoroughly. Bleach mixed with the appropriate amount of water won't harm Sunbrella fabric, but it could damage clothing if not rinsed away. Sunbrella fabric air dries very quickly. Machine drying is unnecessary and high heat may damage the fabric.

Wrought Iron Frame Care

Clean with warm, soapy water. Damage to the paint finish may cause corrosion, touch up any chips or scratches with paint immediately. We sell touch up paint to match all original manufacturers finishes that we sell. To maintain the gloss on non-textured finishes, protect with a fine automotive wax. Do NOT apply wax to textured finishes.

Natural Stone Table Tops

• Natural Stone tops are porous and must be sealed twice a year. We suggest doing this during the Spring and Fall with an impregnating stone sealer. While sealing a natural stone table top will help minimize staining, all spills from wine, soft drinks, fruit juice, coffee and food must be promptly removed from the stone.
• Natural stone table tops should be covered when not in use to keep moisture from penetrating the stone. Covering a table top will also keep dust from settling and protect it from the sun.
• Because stone is mined from various sources around the world, each natural stone table top is unique with random color tones or veining and will not be identical from top to top.
• Due to Colorado's freezing winter temperatures, natural stone table tops MUST be brought inside a home (not left outside or even in the garage) during the winter to prevent the freezing and thawing cycles from cracking and splitting the stone apart. Warranty does NOT cover this type of damage.

Can my Teak wood furniture be kept outside all year round?

Yes, Gloster Teak wood furniture can be kept outside all 12 months of the year, even in Colorado! Of course, furniture left outside all year will get more dirty than furniture that is just used in the summer, but the long term performance and durability of the furniture is exactly the same. If you want to store your Teak wood furniture over the winter, we advise that you do so in an outdoor shed or in your garage. You should NOT move your furniture from outside straight into a heated indoor room for storage, as the sharp differences in temperature and humidity may cause the wood to split.

What do I need to do to protect my Teak wood furniture once left outside?

Teak does not require any special maintenance routine apart from occasional cleaning. If left to age naturally outside by being exposed to light, air and rain, then the surface of the Teak will gradually change color as the pigments in the surface layer of the wood start to fade away. During this time, the wood may become a mottled color of grey and brown, before fading entirely to a soft silver patina. This color change only affects the very surface of the wood and does not affect the strength or performance of the furniture in any way. Gloster recommends that you simply allow your furniture to weather naturally this way and maintain the silver patina with regular, gentle cleaning with soft soap flakes dissolved in warm water (not detergent). However, if the above regular cleaning routine is neglected, furniture can become badly weathered (grey-black in color) or extremely dirty, in which case we offer a cleaner and brightener designed to help restore the surface color of the furniture. We do not recommend that you clean your Teak wood furniture with a power washer as the high pressures can erode the surface of the wood and result in a rough finish.

I want to keep my furniture looking like new. How can I do this?

Exposure to sun, rain and the air will, over time, turn untreated teak a silver grey color. There is little that can be done to avoid this - it is a totally natural reaction of the timber to exposure to the elements and this gradual change in color is widely considered to be part of Teak's enduring appeal. If however, you want to retain the golden-brown color of new Teak and provide some protection from spill and stains then we also offer a Teak Sealer. Application of Teak Sealer will not affect the strength or longevity of the furnitre in any way, just its cosmetic appearance. If you elect to use Teak Sealer you will be embarking on a regular maintenace program as Teak Sealer requires careful application and will need to be regularly re-applied to provide continuous protection.