INDIANAPOLIS — July Fourth is an "outside holiday" so Pat Sullivan from Sullivan Hardware and Garden spent his Sunday segment on 13Sunrise demonstrating a few ways to refresh and maintain patio furniture so it looks its best for any guests coming to your cookout.
"We have cast aluminum. We have metals. We have 'poly.' We have teak. We have wicker," said Sullivan as he ticked off the various materials used in patio tables and chairs.
Teak can be beautiful on the showroom floor, but after it spends a season outside in the elements, it will weather and turn grey. "On the East Coast, people 'romance the silvery hues' of teak furniture," Sullivan said. "But us Hoosiers? It turns grey. And we don't like it."
Sullivan said you can apply three products to restore weathered teak, "There's a clean, a brightener and an oil."
Start with cleaner, then apply the brightener with a rag, and finish with the oil to bring back the warm tone of the wood.
Metals like cast aluminum tend to oxidize outdoors and their finish becomes dull. So Sullivan applied a little WD-40 to a rag to bring back a table's original shine. "You'd be surprised by how much dirt comes off with that," he said.
For poly furniture, Sullivan said power washing will work. There is a specific cleaner, as well, which you may want to use especially on white furniture.
For fabrics and cushions, spraying on a waterproof coating will cause rain to bead on the surface rather than soak into the cushion. Still, storing cushions out of the rain between use is the best practice and will keep the fabric from fading from too much sun exposure.
Watch Sullivan's full Sunrise segment in the video player.