Get your home ready for summer activities, cookouts, and guests with these summer cleaning tips.
Summer Cleaning Checklist Tip 1: Get Your Outdoor Spaces, Ready for the Summer
It’s important to give the exterior of your home and outdoor entertainment spaces a good once-over when the summer starts. Here are the areas you should pay attention to:
Household Vinyl Siding: Use an eraser sponge to remove mold, mildew, dirt, and grime. If you have a large area to clean, our Super S Eraser Sponges (12 Pack) will help shorten your cleaning time due to the their large size.
Windows: Use an eraser sponge to remove any dirt or grime from windows. The eraser sponge extension handle kit can help you reach the upper areas of the window with ease as it extends up to three feet. No ladders or step stools required!
Finally, we’re able to enjoy some good weather! The sun is shining, it’s warm and comfortable, but your outdoor furniture is covered in pollen and dirt from last year…
Well, not to worry, SpongeOutlet is here today with some tips on how to clean your outdoor furniture this summer.
Whether you just broke your outdoor furniture out of the garage, or you’re finding that it needs a good wipe down after it’s been out on the back deck for a couple weeks, we have the info you need.
Dirt & Dust Build Up
Outdoor furniture is prone to dirt and dust build up, so it’s important that you properly store it when you’re putting it away for the winter. If you can, wrap it in an old sheet or cloths to keep the dirt at bay, and keep it in a dry spot in your garage or shed.
When you first take your furniture out of storage, even if it was covered, you’ll need to give it a good wipe down before it’s safe to sit on. The first thing you should do is attack the furniture pieces with a bucket of soapy water, and a microfiber cloth or paper towels. This will remove all the fine dirt and dust that built up on the chairs during the winter months.
Don’t skip this step, even if your chairs were stored in a clean space, dust is everywhere! And you don’t want it to transfer to your guests’ clothing once they sit on your furniture.
Make sure you choose the proper soap for your furniture. If your furniture is wicker or wood, you’ll need to use an oil-based soap to remove any dust and grime from the surface. Metal frames can be cleaned with mild dish soap.
Don’t forget to give everything a good rinse, and let it dry completely before you use the furniture.
And, if your furniture is hard wood, you may want to sand the surface and apply a fresh coat of paint each year before use.
Tough Stains
For areas that have become rusty or stained from last summer’s use, that you can’t clean easily with a cloth and soapy water, take an eraser sponge to the area. Eraser sponges will remove any tough stains from the surface of your furniture but be careful in areas where the paint is chipping—you want to avoid causing further damage to the paint.
Cushions
If your outdoor furniture has cushions attached, you should follow the cleaning instructions on the pillow tags. If they are machine washable, toss the covers in the wash and make sure they are completely air or tumbled dry before you use them. If your cushions aren’t machine washable, you can probably still clean the surfaces of them with a damp cloth to remove any dirt or dust.
Maintenance
On a weekly basis, hose down your furniture to remove debris like leaves and bugs that could damage the integrity of the rust-resistant paint on the surface of the furniture. Make sure that you take the cushions inside whenever you can if it’s going to rain: prolonged exposure to rain without ever becoming fully dry will cause mold to grow inside and on your cushions.
About halfway through the summer, or once a month, give your furniture another wipe-down with a cloth and soapy water, to make sure that you’re removing any dust and dirt that’s stuck to the surfaces. And, if there are any stains, use an eraser sponge to get rid of them right away.
If you have a big party and your furniture is used heavily over the course of an evening, it’s a good idea to hose everything down to remove food and alcohol particles that could cause problems down the line.
And, if you know there’s going to be a big summer storm, bring your furniture inside or tie it to your deck to avoid it being thrown around in the wind and damaged, or damaging something else, like your house!
Proper Storage
At the end of the summer, repeat the deep clean that you performed at the beginning of the season to remove dirt and grime, and store your furniture in a place where it will stay dry and not too cold, if possible. Wrap your furniture with old sheets or cloths, and keep any fabric or pillows sealed in a storage bin.
If you follow these simple (and frequent) cleaning tips, your furniture will last you for many summers to come. In the meantime, get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!
For more information on Sponge Outlet products, or for more cleaning tips for around the house, head to our blog often! Questions? Call us at 877-776-6430.
Your boat spent all winter in storage, waiting for sun and warm weather to appear. Now that summer is finally here, it’s time to get your boat back on the water. But before you get too excited, there are some things that need to be checked off on your checklist.
Check your boat
Before gathering the family and jumping in the boat for a fun-filled day on the water, you should check all of the basics: check the fuel and hoses for leaks or cracks, look at the cables and belts and inspect electrical connections to ensure they are working properly and safely. Are the fluid levels such as engine oil and coolant correct? Is the boat equipped with life jackets and a first aid kit?
Clean your boat
Now that you’ve inspected your boat thoroughly, it’s time to clean the interior and exterior. After all, you spend thousands on your boat so don’t you want it in tip-top shape? To help remove musty odors and to preserve the value of your boat, you should really take the time and clean it. Grab your kids or grandkids and have them help you! It can be an easy and simple process if you use these products from Spongeoutlet.
The Super S Detail Sponge is perfect for big jobs such as cleaning your boat. Simply wet the sponge, squeeze out any excess water and gently rub the dirt, stain, scuff or even mold mark on your boat. Rinse, squeeze and store the sponge so you can reuse it many times.
Are your kids having a blast with the sponge, soap and water? Use our Large Shammy Cloth to clean up spills fast. The Shammy is both a sponge and a towel and can wash, dry and polish your boat without leaving any scratches. Hoping to use the Shammy again next year? No worries, you’ll be able to throw it in the washing machine and use it again and again.
If you are planning on cleaning your boat before putting it in the water this summer, take a look at Spongeoutlet’s auto and boat cleaning products and get started today!
There is nothing more enjoyable than lounging in a chair while your children splash and play in the pool during the summer months.
And now that the school year is over and summer has officially arrived, your family is sure to be spending time outside every chance they get.
To get your yard ready for the exciting season ahead, the first thing to do is bring out your patio furniture from storage.
Whether you are enjoying an evening meal with your family or are hosting a big party, comfortable – and clean – seating is a must.
Even if you cleaned your patio furniture before you put it away last winter, it is always a good idea to wipe chairs and tables clean before sitting down for the first time.
Dirt and grime can accumulate easily, especially on items stored in the close confines of a garage or basement.
For the busy individuals who don’t feel like filling a bucket with soapy water and wasting a roll of paper towels to get everything clean, SpongeOutlet has a much easier cleaning solution!
Regardless of what material your patio furniture is made of our Eraser Sponge will remove grit and grime with ease.
We recommend keeping sponges on hand throughout the summer months, as pollen, sap and spilled food will need to be cleaned up before each of the backyard get-togethers you host.
Remember to test on a small area first before scrubbing everything clean and review the video below for a complete patio furniture cleaning tutorial.
