Last week we talked about basic cleaning methods for your rattan garden furniture. This week, we’ll be teaching you some cleaning methods for more specific problems, as well as giving you some tips on how to repair your rattan furniture to extend its already impressive durability.
Cleaning stains and mildew
Obviously you want to avoid spilling anything on your rattan furniture, like you do with more or less anything, but if you do accidently knock over that glass of wine or strangely inconvenient bolognaise, then you’ll want to know how to remove those pesky stains without damaging your rattan furniture. Firstly, you need to make sure you take care of it as soon as possible; otherwise the liquid from the spill will soak into your furniture and make a permanent stain. If you aren’t quick enough and it does leave a stain, then you should try using soap and water, as mentioned in the previous article, but if that doesn’t work, as it often won’t with stains that have had time to really get in there, then the best thing to do is to mix a solution of bleach and water together. Obviously, don’t overdo the bleach. Give your furniture a scrub, but try and be gentle to avoid damaging the weave. If this doesn’t work, an alternative is to use a cotton bud with some bleach to get into the weave and focus on the stains. This also works if you have a build-up of mildew or mould. You should ideally give your rattan garden furniture a good clean once a month, and generally just keep on top of any grubbiness that builds up by giving it a vacuum every now and then.
How to repair your Rattan Garden Furniture
In some cases, namely with natural rattan furniture, extreme exposure to the elements, including extreme heat and massive amounts of direct sunlight, can cause your furniture to crack and split. In order to avoid this, it’s best to keep your garden rattan furniture in the shade. If it’s too late and your furniture is already showing signs of wear and tear, it’s possible to repair it with boiled linseed oil. Make sure that you buy boiled linseed oil from a DIY shop like B&Q or Wicks; never try to boil linseed oil yourself as it is EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE.
Apply a thin layer of the linseed oil to your rattan furniture and wait for it to dry. If you need to, you can apply extra layers, until the oils stops ’sinking in’ to the furniture as well. Once you reach that stage, you know you’ve applied enough oil. The oil doesn’t actually fill in the cracks and splits, but it does subtly moisten the rattan which makes it expand and make the damage less obvious. You may also notice that the weave is becoming loose. It is sometimes possible, depending on the extent of the looseness to simply push it back into place by hand, but the best way to avoid it altogether is to not sit in your rattan garden chairs when they’re damp, as this will cause them to sag.
We hope you find these tips on how to care for your rattan garden furniture useful, next week we’ll be looking at how to protect your furniture as well as steps to take if you want to decorate it.