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Cleaning tips for By the Yard furniture

By Dan Darvell July 23, 2020 blog
Cleaning tips for By the Yard furniture

We at By the Yard get asked a lot about how to clean our furniture.  Sometimes all that is needed is a good rain shower, but for cleaning above and beyond Mother Nature, I thought I’d go right to the top and get some trade secrets from our founder Deb.  I asked her what she uses to keep her furniture clean and was able to pick up some tips I can apply to my By the Yard furniture at my house!

I own a weathered wood 51” round table framed in coffee.  My By the Yard furniture sits directly under the most messy oak tree in all of MN.  That could perhaps be an exaggeration on my part but keeping the tabletop clean and the patio swept is a constant battle.  We also have a fair amount of birds that hang out in our tree and unfortunately our table and chairs can be a direct target.

Note, I’ll address white below as it is truly the one color we offer that requires a bit of pressure washing to restore it’s gleam.  Our other eight colors do not need the pressure washer!

For spot cleaning in a hurry, Deb recommends simply using a wet rag, sponge or paper towel.  This is effective and quick.  If you have a few more minutes, Deb recommends putting a squirt of blue Dawn in a bucket/bowl of warm water.  Use your rag, sponge or paper towel and give your furniture a once over.  I’ve found that this method is the one I use most often and it does the trick with limited scrubbing.  If I’ve gone overboard on bubbles, I’ll give it a quick rinse with the garden hose.  Another good green cleaning option is vinegar and water.  There are lots of vinegar cleaning recipes online.

We at By the Yard get asked a lot about how to clean our furniture. Sometimes all that is needed is a good rain shower, but for cleaning above and beyond Mother Nature, I thought I’d go right to the top and get some trade secrets from our founder Deb. I asked her what she uses to keep her furniture clean and was able to pick up some tips I can apply to my By the Yard furniture at my house! I own a weathered wood 51” round table framed in coffee. My By the Yard furniture sits directly under the most messy oak tree in all of MN. That could perhaps be an exaggeration on my part but keeping the tabletop clean and the patio swept is a constant battle. We also have a fair amount of birds that hang out in our tree and unfortunately our table and chairs can be a direct target. Note, I’ll address white below as it is truly the one color we offer that requires a bit of pressure washing to restore it’s gleam. Our other eight colors do not need the pressure washer! For spot cleaning in a hurry, Deb recommends simply using a wet rag, sponge or paper towel. This is effective and quick. If you have a few more minutes, Deb recommends putting a squirt of blue Dawn in a bucket/bowl of warm water. Use your rag, sponge or paper towel and give your furniture a once over. I’ve found that this method is the one I use most often and it does the trick with limited scrubbing. If I’ve gone overboard on bubbles, I’ll give it a quick rinse with the garden hose. Another good green cleaning option is vinegar and water. There are lots of vinegar cleaning recipes online.
We at By the Yard get asked a lot about how to clean our furniture. Sometimes all that is needed is a good rain shower, but for cleaning above and beyond Mother Nature, I thought I’d go right to the top and get some trade secrets from our founder Deb. I asked her what she uses to keep her furniture clean and was able to pick up some tips I can apply to my By the Yard furniture at my house! I own a weathered wood 51” round table framed in coffee. My By the Yard furniture sits directly under the most messy oak tree in all of MN. That could perhaps be an exaggeration on my part but keeping the tabletop clean and the patio swept is a constant battle. We also have a fair amount of birds that hang out in our tree and unfortunately our table and chairs can be a direct target. Note, I’ll address white below as it is truly the one color we offer that requires a bit of pressure washing to restore it’s gleam. Our other eight colors do not need the pressure washer! For spot cleaning in a hurry, Deb recommends simply using a wet rag, sponge or paper towel. This is effective and quick. If you have a few more minutes, Deb recommends putting a squirt of blue Dawn in a bucket/bowl of warm water. Use your rag, sponge or paper towel and give your furniture a once over. I’ve found that this method is the one I use most often and it does the trick with limited scrubbing. If I’ve gone overboard on bubbles, I’ll give it a quick rinse with the garden hose. Another good green cleaning option is vinegar and water. There are lots of vinegar cleaning recipes online.

If you need to disinfect your furniture, Deb recommends Softscrub with bleach.  Put on some gloves, apply with a sponge, let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse off.  Don’t worry!  When used correctly, bleach will not discolor our furniture – HDPE is non-porous.  However, you do need to make sure you thoroughly rinse off the Softscrub with Bleach because if you do not get it all rinsed off, you run the risk of bleaching your clothing if you should sit on it.  If I have people coming over, or my table has bird droppings on it, I reach for the Softscrub with bleach.  If you don’t have Softscrub with bleach, you can always follow the water dilution directions on the back of your household bleach container and apply, let rest, and rinse off.

If you need to disinfect your furniture, Deb recommends Softscrub with bleach. Put on some gloves, apply with a sponge, let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse off. Don’t worry! When used correctly, bleach will not discolor our furniture - HDPE is non-porous. However, you do need to make sure you thoroughly rinse off the Softscrub with Bleach because if you do not get it all rinsed off, you run the risk of bleaching your clothing if you should sit on it. If I have people coming over, or my table has bird droppings on it, I reach for the Softscrub with bleach. If you don’t have Softscrub with bleach, you can always follow the water dilution directions on the back of your household bleach container and apply, let rest, and rinse off.

If you own our white furniture, we recommend cleaning with a pressure washer.  White naturally shows dust and dirt over time that the rain or scrubbing with a little elbow grease might not get out.  Please note, when using a pressure washer, you need to make sure it does not exceed 1,500 PSI and you are keeping the nozzle at least 14” from the furniture.  Deb has also seen great success when using Softscrub with bleach on the white!

One more add on my part, my family is doing our best to limit the amount of waste we throw in the garbage so we compost all of our paper towels and sanitize our sponges after every use in the dishwasher!

If you have any further questions about cleaning your furniture or want to talk more about our products, don’t hesitate to contact us at By the Yard.  We are happy to help!

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