Cleaning up the lawn furniture
May 22, 2008 by Badbadivy
My Darling Home Ec Divas,
I’m all set for Memorial Day weekend. I have family and friends coming over for a barbecue. The menu’s set, the food is bought, the house is clean (well, it’s getting there), I’m ready. Well, except for one thing. My lawn furniture is ewww and funk. Seriously, I don’t know what happens over the winter to make it so nasty, but it is. Can you help?
Love,
The Jamesetta Brown Of Lawn Furniture
Ivy says:
There’s something inherently hilarious about the words “lawn furniture.” I often imagine what people from way back in history would think of we modern people, and I think they’d probably fall down laughing at the idea of having furniture for your lawn. Heck, if you go far enough back, they’d probably roll with laughter just at the idea of a lawn.
That said, let’s get your lawn furniture clean. Now, you all may have noticed I rarely suggest cleaning things with bleach. That’s because I hate bleach. I hate how it smells, I hate how I always end up with little bleachy spots on things, I hate that it kills plants if you’re not careful. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. (Whoo! such strong feelings about a household cleaner!)
Even though I hate bleach, I realize it has its uses. This is one of them. There’s nothing like a good scrub with some bleach water to get that funky mold, mildew and whatever other funk is on your lawn furniture. Make up a bucket with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water and use a scrub brush to scrub your lawn furniture.
Do not do this on your actual lawn. Do this on your driveway. If you use a hose to hose off the furniture after scrubbing, make sure you’re not letting the water run onto the sides of your lawn, unless you want dead grass. I always try to make sure it’s heading out onto the curb where it will eventually run into the sewer. And hey, sanitized curbs!
Have fun at your barbecue!
I know you guys don’t recommend disposable products often, but Magic Erasers really do the trick on our outdoor furniture when the pressure washer doesn’t get the job done.
Jag, were you referring to the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? I was curious about that product but have never given it a try. If it`s worth it, I`ll pick one up… Otherwise, I guess bleach and water it is
I am not normally one for “specialty” products, but I have used one of those “plastic lawn furniture cleaners” (which may or may not contain bleach) and they work remarkably well. It is the only exception to my no specialty item rule.
For me, I don’t even have a lawn to clean up which is a good thing..
Are you kidding? The bleach just washes down into the sewer?
In most places, runoff water goes into stormwater channels which flow into rivers and streams. You’re helping to create an ecological disaster to protect your lawn?
Calm down. First, I know EXACTLY where the water drains off to because of a recent infestation we had of drain flies. It goes to the sewer.
Secondly, at the amount of bleach I’m recommending, I’m hardly causing an “ecological disaster. Third, where does the water from your lawn go? Groundwater supplies and local rivers and lakes.