How to Weatherproof Garden Furniture?

Weatherproofing garden furniture is less about one big annual job and more about matching the treatment to the material. Timber needs cleaning and oiling, softwood needs a preservative on its end grain, steel needs its coating kept sealed, and synthetic rattan needs shade rather than shelter from rain. In British gardens it is long damp spells rather than frost that cause most damage, swelling joints and encouraging mould. This guide explains how to identify what your furniture is made from, the correct order for cleaning and treating each material, how to use covers without trapping humidity underneath, and where to store cushions and folding pieces over winter. There is advice on cleaning hardwood, why pressure washers harm timber, and how to treat chips in a steel coating before rust spreads. It closes with a simple seasonal routine that takes around two hours across a full year and makes the difference between furniture lasting three seasons and lasting a decade....