The British weather is notoriously windy, wet, and cold during the winter months. While you hide away in the warmth and comfort of your home, it is worth pondering on whether your outdoor wooden garden furniture requires the same escape.
Whether it is bad for you to leave your outdoor garden furniture exposed to the elements during winter depends on the construction materials, including the fixings and fittings. Some materials hold up better than others, with the potential to last a lifetime or degrade into a rusted mess in just a few years.
How the future of your outdoor garden furniture will fair and what you can do to protect it is covered by the general rules below:
Aluminium: This material will not rot or rust, but it may still be beneficial to cover it to protect it from dirt and bird droppings.
Rattan: You can leave outside all year round, but you should bring in or cover any soft furnishings, such as cushions.
Metal: It is best to store metal outdoor garden furniture inside a shed or garage to prevent corrosion or rust risks.
Plastic: Plastic will not rust or corrode but is often lightweight, meaning it could be blown around your garden during heavy storms with strong winds. Furniture that blows around your outdoor space could damage the furniture itself or other fragile garden items, such as ground lights or winter flowers. Although winter sunlight is not as strong as the summer’s, plastic outdoor garden furniture is susceptible to fading. If you are not using it, pack it away or cover it to extend its life.
Wood: Wooden outdoor furniture of good quality can be treated and left out during the winter months. You may need to re-treat the timber in future years to prevent aging, although some species of wood age beautifully. Different wood species have their own properties that affect the durability, with some species naturally having boring insect, water, and rot resistance.
Protecting Your Outdoor Furniture
If you can’t protect your outdoor garden furniture by taking it indoors or covering it with a waterproof cover, then you can still prevent damage. Wooden garden furniture can quickly and easily be treated. By treating the timber correctly, you create weather-resistant garden furniture that can be left outside for 12 months of the year.
The principles and steps for treating wooden garden furniture are as follows:
- Brush away loose dirt and grime
- Wipe down the timber with a wood cleaner
- Once dry, apply a wood preservative and insect repellent
- Seal the cut ends of the timber with end-grain sealing wax to prevent splitting or cracking
To weather-proof garden furniture, we recommend that you use a clear water-based wood preservative once per year, ideally in the autumn on a dry, bright day.
How We Ensure Our Furniture Stands The Test Of Time
Our outdoor garden furniture is made from high-quality furniture-grade cuts of Swedish redwood, which contains natural organic compounds that deter boring insects and resist rotting.
We use a Tanalith E pressure treatment to help protect the timber, which has the potential to retain its original beauty for 25 to 50 years.