How to Keep Your Outdoor Area Clean

If you are going to make the investment to get your fire pit, you will want to spend some time maintaining your outdoor space. You can do a lot to keep your outdoor area clean in seasons where you plan to use it most. Although it may seem easier to have everyone inside the house, think of the cleaning and preparation you have to go through to make sure every room looks immaculate! When you are entertaining outside, you have some perks of the natural views and nature's touches to keep it an imperfect, perfect setting.

Keep that Furniture Clean

This is as important as it is tedious. Depending on what type of furniture you have, it may be more difficult than you would think to keep it clean. If you have a lighter colored or cloth set, you are going to have to utilize your washing machine, cloth cleaner, or maybe some goo gone! Either way, find what works! When you first purchase your outdoor furniture, keep an eye on the cleaning instructions, or use what you know! Make sure to clean it more than when you see visible dirt. Keeping up with it and getting ahead of it can help to make sure it stays clean. This goes for plastic and metal furniture as well. Wipe it down after using it, rinse it when needed, and deep clean it from time to time. This also goes along with how you plan to store everything! When you are not using it, it does not have to sit outside and collect pollen and dirt. If it is not heavy duty, feel free to throw it in the garage or cover it where it is at, so you don’t have to clean it as often!

What are you doing for Flooring?

Brick, pavers, tile, concrete? What Kind of flooring do you have, and do you know how to keep it clean? Depending on where you live, you may have flooring that is more typical for that environment, but if you go custom, you should know how to clean it. If you have a wood deck or patio, you need to get real picky with the cleaner you purchase. You could ruin the wood by using the wrong chemicals, so pressure wash and use chemicals that you know won't rot or discolor the wood.

For concrete, you can start with a hose or pressure washer to get the dirt off. You can also add some light soap to your area and then rinse if you have stains that will not seem to wash off with water. If you have pavers or brick, you should talk to the company who installed it, or call a local company that lays these. Be sure to maintain them often, get rid of the weeds that pop through by cleaning and sealing them. This will also help to keep the colors bright and look new all year long!

Wash the Exterior of your Home

This is something easy that you can do on a regular basis or when you are having people over. Grab some glass cleaner and start with the windows and glass doors. If you have a

two-story home, a ladder, and a professional available, go for it! But if not, stick to the ground level or entertainment level when washing these items. If you have a pressure washer, you can also rinse off the siding or outside of the house to get the excess dirt off. While you’re doing this, you may want to check the gutters for sticks, twigs, and leaves to polish off the exterior look of your home!

Trim the hedges and Mow the Lawn

Have you grabbed the mower and the weed wacker? This is the next step to making your outdoor area look clean and ready for guests! You may want to take a walk around the patio and deck and check for weeds and overgrown bushes for starters. Start by pulling these and getting them out of the way. Now you can move onto the bushes and hedges and give them a nice little cut so it does not block anyone’s view of other guests. This is also a great way to cut to ensure any privacy you may want in your yard. Next, it is time to mow the lawn and trim the edges of your yard. You can go with the rows, the crisscross, or whatever angles you are going for. A clean and maintained yard makes the whole view 100% more appealing!

Wipe Down the Fire Pit and Other Accessories

The furniture is clean and dry; the floor is sparkling, the lawn had its trim, now all you have to do is get your fire pit ready! Wipe down and soot or dirt you may have around or on your fire pit. Move it to the desired area and walk around the entire fire pit to make sure you didn’t miss any spots. There are certain cleaning supplies you can get for your pits, but the majority are pretty low maintenance. At this time, you can stack the firewood on your log rack, clear off any additional outdoor lighting, and you are ready for an awesome night with great friends! Keeping your outdoor area doesn’t always have to be so tedious if you keep up with it. But it will make having people over so much easier when you can congregate outside. Use these tips this spring as you begin to get outside a bit more and are able to spend time with those you love!