In the summer, your garden can feel like a safe haven. You make it look pretty, and you decorate it with comfy furniture, and sparkling lights. But, when winter rolls around, it can be difficult to know what to do with all of your summer furniture.
Some patio furniture can appear very delicate, and if you live in an area that hits freezing temperatures, you might feel apprehensive about leaving it out. So, should you?
In most cases, it is perfectly fine to leave your patio furniture outside in the winter. Most patio furniture is designed to be incredibly hardy, which is why it is able to stay outside all summer. This hardiness will also protect your patio furniture during the winter months and prevent it from becoming damaged or broken.
However, some patio furniture is better able to withstand cold winter temperatures than others. For example, top-quality rattan patio furniture is one of the most durable, and you can leave this out during the winter months without needing to take any precautions to protect it from cold temperatures.
Additionally, wooden patio furniture is also quite hardy, and can withstand cold winter temperatures, so it is okay to leave it out during these months.
But, there are some types of patio furniture that simply will not survive the cold during the winter. In particular, metal patio furniture can really struggle in these cold months, especially when you factor in the wet and snowy conditions that come with it. It isn’t so much the cold that affects the metal, instead it is the wet.
Metal and water really don’t mix well, as the wetness can cause the metal to rust and erode, causing it to break prematurely. So, you should always take your metal patio furniture into storage during the winter months.
You may choose to put all of your patio furniture into storage during the winter, but unless it is made of metal, there is no real need to do this. Instead, you can simply cover your furniture with tarpaulin, so let’s have a look at how you would do this.
How do you wrap outdoor furniture for the winter?
As we have mentioned, if you do not want to put your patio and outdoor furniture into storage during the winter months, then you can wrap it instead. While putting the furniture into storage is the best way to protect your furniture, wrapping it will also protect it from the harsh temperatures.
But, depending on the size of your patio furniture, wrapping it might seem like a very daunting prospect. So let’s have a look at where you would begin.
When it comes to wrapping outdoor furniture, there is one type of material that stands out as the firm favorite for this task. That is, of course, tarpaulin. When it comes to protecting anything that is kept outside, tarpaulin is the go-to, and it is also great for keeping your patio furniture safe.
To secure tarpaulin to your outdoor furniture, you need to buy a tarp that is big enough to cover the furniture. Or, you could simply buy enough tarp to cover the entire furniture.
Once you have your tarp, you should begin securing it in place. Most tarpaulin will come with holes along the edges so that you can use rope to tie it securely in place. If you still do not feel that it is that secure, you could also add some heavy things on top of the tarp to ensure that it does not blow away in the cold winter winds.
But, tarpaulin isn’t the only option that you have. Depending on the manufacturer of the patio furniture that you own, you might be able to buy a specially designed patio cover. It is generally only high-end brands that offer these, but it is definitely worth looking into whether one exists for your furniture.
While tarpaulin is great, a specially designed patio cover will cling to your furniture, ensuring that it does not encounter the elements during the winter months.
Can you leave a glass top patio table out in the winter?
As we have established, some patio furniture is more hardy than others, which is why some furniture can be left out during the winter months without issue. But what about glass patio furniture? We haven’t covered this yet, so let’s take a look.
You might expect glass furniture to be the most vulnerable to the cold winter weather, but this isn’t actually the case. Despite the fact that glass is often labelled as ‘fragile’, glass patio furniture is actually rather durable. This is because it contains a special type of glass that is built to withstand the wear and tear that outdoor furniture experiences.
Outdoor glass topped furniture is made using tempered glass, rather than regular glass. Tempered glass is designed in a specific way to make it less fragile, which is why it is suitable for use outdoors.
Tempered glass is also designed to be less vulnerable to changes in temperature, so the cold weather alone will not cause your glass top patio table to break. All you need to do is cover your table with tarpaulin, and it should be safe throughout the winter months.
However, the cold temperatures aren’t the only thing you need to worry about when it comes to the winter. During winter, the weather does become a bit unruly, and you might find strong winds could pose a danger to your glass top patio table.
Even though it is protected against cold weather, the tempered glass will not protect the table if it gets hit by blunt force, or blown over in the wind. So, once you wrap your table, you might want to consider where is the safest place to store it in your garden before you call it a day.
But, as long as you wrap your glass top table, and place it in a safe space in your garden, then it is perfectly fine to leave it out during the winter months.
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