Terrace and outdoor furniture cleaning

Why outdoor fabric is harder work

Not simply dirtier, dirty in a way that resists cleaning, which is why it prices slightly above indoor.

Indoor soil largely sits in the fabric, deposited and liftable. Outdoor soil gets baked in. Months of direct sun drive it into the fiber and bond it there, and the longer a cushion sits untouched the less readily it releases.

Which is why waiting costs more than people expect. A cushion cleaned annually comes back close to new. The same cushion left five years has soil that has been through five summers of that process.

What we find out here

Sunscreen

The one nobody expects and frequently the real culprit. It transfers readily off skin, it is oily, and it holds dust. On pale cushions around a pool it is very often what people are calling general dirt, which is why rinsing them never fixes it.

Pool chemistry

Splash-out leaves chlorinated residue that lightens fabric over time. Cleaning removes the residue but does not restore color already lifted out.

Monsoon aftermath

Cushions soaked in August and dried slowly under a cover, which is ideal mildew conditions. Treatable in the cover in most cases, not where it has reached the insert.

Preserve dust

On the boundary streets especially, fine mineral material settles continuously and binds with everything else.

How it goes

1. Cushions come off. Cleaned both sides where the construction allows, because the underside is rarely as clean as people assume.
2. Pre-treatment for what is actually there. Mildew, sunscreen and general dust are three different problems taking three different products.
3. Cleaning and extraction. Outdoor fabric generally takes a more robust approach than delicate indoor cloth, which is one of the few places this job is easier.
4. Drying. Air movers where they help, and in an Arizona summer the weather does most of the work.
5. Back together and a look at it with you before we go.

What we do not do

The cushions are the upholstery job. The frames, whether aluminum, wrought iron, teak or woven resin, are a different kind of work.

If the frames are what actually looks bad, clean cushions will not fix your terrace, and you should know that before booking rather than after. We will say which is the real problem when we look.

Timing

Late September into October is the window. The monsoon is finished, everything that was going to blow onto your terrace has, and you are heading into the months when the space is actually usable.

Second best is early spring before the season starts, which is what most of the seasonal properties in Casa Blanca and Judson do.

What it costs

Outdoor pieces sit slightly above the equivalent indoor rate for the reasons above. Deep-seat sofas, lounge chairs and dining chairs all have indoor equivalents on the pricing page. The $150 minimum per visit applies as everywhere.

Most people have the terrace done at the same time as the indoor furniture, which is the efficient way to buy it.

Questions