Knowing how to clean outdoor garden furniture properly is crucial if you want to keep your Westminster products in tip top condition. Luckily for you, thanks to the high quality, 100% weatherproof materials we use to manufacture every Westminster product, maintaining your garden furniture requires very minimal effort.
Fabric outdoor furniture sometimes carries a negative perception as being difficult to maintain. However, we are here to debug the myths once and for all. Due to the industry-leading, quick dry foam technology and Sunbrella® fabrics, you can leave your fabric furniture outside all year round, without the need to cover it. Even after a heavy downpour it can be ready to use again within 30 minutes. The robust construction of our Sunbrella® textile will even withstand the test of bleach or jetwash. But don’t just take our word for it!
This week we sat down with the Twinkle Cleaning Duo, where we discussed everything from Sunbrella® to cleaning and gardens. So, if you are looking for garden furniture cleaning tips from the experts, then you’re in the right place.
‘Investing in our Westminster furniture was one of the best decisions we made as it took our garden to another level.’
Natalia, Twinkle Cleaning Duo.
A BIT ABOUT THE TWINKLE CLEANING DUO…
1. Who are the Twinkle Cleaning Duo? We are twin sisters Nat & Kat, we both are crazy about cleaning and we run our own cleaning business and a successful Instagram page. As well as sharing cleaning, home and organisational tips we also share a lot of our family life on our Instagram page. Our older sister Charlotte also helps out on the admin of the page, so it’s a family affair.
2. What Westminster products do you have? Within the Westminster range we have the Moonlight cantilever parasol, 10 x Edge dining armchairs, Tomorrow sofa set, Ocean coffee table, 2 x Ocean loungers and Blaze lounge fire table. These were delivered in multiple orders, with the first items being delivered 10 months ago.
3. What materials are these products made from? The products are made from a combination of aluminium, Sunbrella® fabric, ceramic, and tempered glass. A big selling point to us is that all the materials at Westminster are 100% weatherproof and can be left outside all year round.
4. Have you got much use of them so far this year? We’ve been able to make good use of our garden furniture on quite a few occasions this year, whether that’s hosting a gathering at our home or simply sitting around our dining area enjoying a family BBQ.
5. What has your experience been so far with the products? Unlike our previous garden furniture, maintenance is easy and we’re able to remove the covers early spring and leave them off until winter. Westminster furniture is fast drying and easy to clean due to its Quick Dry Foam and Sunbrella® fabric design.
CLEANING & MAINTENANCE
6. What methods of cleaning/maintenance do you carry out to clean your garden furniture? To clean the furniture I simply use Fairy liquid and water or Cif Cream and water for more stubborn stains. WD40 is amazing for a streak free finish on the aluminium.
7. Do you put your furniture away over winter or use a cover to protect against the elements? As the warm weather ends and the weather changes we cover our furniture, usually from October to March, but we know this is not necessary.
8. Have you owned fabric garden furniture before and did you have any expectations before purchasing? Our previous furniture wasn’t as easy to look after, we couldn’t leave the cushions out overnight, if it got wet it then took a long time to dry.
9. How often does your fabric garden furniture require maintenance and care attention? Maintenance wise we simply give our furniture a quick brush with a small dustpan and brush to remove any leaves etc, sometimes we even use a cordless vacuum. If we have guests coming over we give the furniture a quick wipe down and then buff up with some WD40 and a microfibre cloth.
10. How long would you say you spend per month cleaning your furniture? In terms of the length of time it takes to clean per month, it really is only a few minutes before we use the furniture.
11. Have you tested any of the robust characteristics of Sunbrella® fabric? For example bleaching and jet washing? I love to jet wash our garden furniture, but only if it requires a deeper clean, ie birds poo etc. it’s so easy to do and within no time it’s dry and you’re able to use the furniture again.
12. How long does it take for your Sunbrella® fabric to dry after it rains, and how does this compare on a sunny day as opposed to a cloudy day? After a sudden down pour, the furniture is generally dry enough to sit on again within 30 minutes depending on how warm it is after the rain.
13. Do you have any top tips for keeping your Sunbrella® fabric in great condition? To keep our furniture in great condition we always cover our furniture when we are not likely to use it for a long period (winter months). Then we generally just clean little & often. Do not use any products that are abrasive.
14. Any other cheats or hacks that keep your furniture looking pristine all year round? WD40 is the secret to keep your aluminum pristine after a general clean.
GENERAL
15. Do you have any garden design plans for this upcoming summer? We don’t have any major plans for the garden as we’ve already done a lot work. Investing in our stunning Westminster garden furniture was one of the best decisions we made as it took our garden to another level. We’d like to improve our garden borders with some more plants etc.
16. How do you accessorise your garden furniture? We accessorise our furniture by using lights , flowers, place mats & table accessories. I need to order some cushions; I have my eye on some Westminster ones! As they are all made from the iconic Sunbrella® material which is a life saver when it comes to cleaning.
17. What is your favorite part of your garden? Our patio area is definitely our favourite area in the garden as it’s where a lot of our family gatherings take place. Alfresco dining is just the best.
We hope you’ve learnt a bit more about how to care and maintain for your Westminster garden furniture and now understand just how low maintenance, quick and easy it can be. Nat is a loyal customer and now has an outdoor space which is fully decked out with Westminster garden furniture. If you want to shop Nat’s full collection, we’ve included links to individual items below.
Moonlight cantilever parasol
Edge dining armchair
Tomorrow sofa set
Ocean coffee table
Ocean loungers
Blaze lounge fire table