How To Winter-ize Your Outdoor Living Space

With winter now here, it is important to prioritize caring for your outdoor furniture to ensure that it lasts for many seasons to come. Read along for a quick guide on winterizing your outdoor furniture. 

Step 1: Remove all cushions, throw pillows, fabric accessories, and canopies from umbrella frames. 

After drying all outdoor upholstery and textiles, place them in either designated zip up canvas covers or in a dry spot away from the extreme winter elements. While Sunbrella is rated as very durable, it is worth the effort to put a little extra care into ensuring that cushions, throw pillows, fabric accessories, and umbrella canopies are stored properly out of the elements when not in use. This practice alone can add multiple summers to your outdoor textiles lifespan. 

Step 2: Clean furniture frames. 

Whether you use a freshwater hose or spray bottle and rag, give your furniture frames a quick once over to remove all dirt, pollen, leaves, any build up from the previous season, and if you live near the coast - dried salt. While some companies offer a chemical cleaning solution to use on your furniture frames, we recommend just simply warm water mixed with 1/4 cup mild dishwashing soap.

Step 3: Disassemble fire tables and fire pits when not in use.

While winter is a lovely time to use your outdoor fire table, sometimes it is just simply too cold. If you live in a climate where you typically don't lounge outside during the winter, disassemble and disconnect your fire table from its propane source until it is time to start using them again. 

Step 4: Bring glass items inside.

If you don't plan on using your glass outdoor tables during the winter, bring them inside! While outdoor furniture frames are built to endure the elements, you never know what may fall on your table top outdoor from a tree or roofline above this season!

Step 5: And last but certainly not least, care for your cushions to ensure longevity of use! 

We stress this one! Please care for your cushions properly by removing them from their respective frames when not in use for long periods of time. Cushion lifespan will also benefit from being vacuumed before placing them into storage. While Sunbrella Fabrics are durable, your cushions lifespan will shorten dramatically if left sitting in inclement weather year after year. 

Step 6: Prepare for the next season of outdoor lounging.

And with the changing seasons, there are always things to look forward to. Prepare ahead of time for bringing your furniture, cushions, fire pits, and accessories back outside by pressure washing or sweeping the area in which your furniture will live. Ensuring a clean space to start out the outdoor season with. Happy lounging!

For more care information specific to material, please visit our Care and Maintenance Guide, here. For more information on Sunbrella Fabrics, please visit their site, here. For more information on Outdoor Furniture Cleaning Techniques visit guides from The Wickery, Martha Stewart or Real Simple Magazine.