Patio and outdoor furniture cleaning in Gilbert

Why outdoor fabric is harder work

It is not simply dirtier, it is dirty in a way that resists cleaning, which is why it prices slightly above indoor work.

Indoor soil largely sits in the fabric, deposited there and liftable. Outdoor soil gets baked in. Months of direct Arizona sun drive it into the fiber and bond it, and the longer a cushion sits untouched the less readily it releases.

Which is why waiting costs more than people expect. A cushion cleaned annually comes back close to new. The same cushion left five years has soil that has been through five summers of that process, and the result is good rather than transformative.

What we find on Gilbert patios

Sunscreen

The one nobody expects and frequently the actual culprit. It transfers readily off skin, it is oily, and it holds dust. On pale cushions around a pool it is very often what people are calling general dirt.

Pool chemistry

Splash-out onto nearby cushions leaves chlorinated residue, and over time that lightens fabric. Cleaning removes the residue. It does not put back color that has already been lifted out.

Monsoon aftermath

Cushions soaked in August and dried slowly, usually under a cover, which is ideal mildew conditions. Treatable in the cover in most cases. If it has grown into the foam insert, that is a replacement rather than a clean.

Ordinary desert dust

Continuous, fine, and it settles into the weave rather than onto it. Same story as indoors, at higher volume.

How outdoor cleaning goes

1. Cushions come off. Cleaned on both sides where the construction allows, because the underside of a patio cushion is rarely as clean as people assume.
2. Pre-treatment for what is actually there. Mildew, sunscreen and general dust are three different problems and do not take the same product.
3. Cleaning and extraction. Outdoor fabric generally takes a more robust approach than delicate indoor cloth, which is one of the few places this job is easier.
4. Drying. Air movers where they help, and in an Arizona summer the weather does most of the work.
5. Back together and a look at it with you before we go.

Frames, and what we do not do

The cushions are the upholstery job. The frames, whether aluminum, wrought iron or resin wicker, are a different kind of work and generally a pressure washing question rather than an extraction one.

We will tell you plainly what cleaning the cushions will and will not change. If the frames are the thing that actually looks bad, clean cushions will not fix your patio, and you should know that before booking rather than after.

Timing it right

Late September into October is the best window. The monsoon is done, everything that was going to blow onto your patio has, and you are heading into the months when Gilbert is actually pleasant to sit outside in.

Second best is early spring before the season starts. The worst is July, when nobody is out there and the cushions are about to take two more months of storms.

What it costs

Outdoor pieces sit slightly above the equivalent indoor rate for the reasons above. Deep-seat sofas, lounge chairs and dining chairs all have indoor equivalents on the pricing page and outdoor sits just above those. The $150 minimum per visit applies as it does everywhere.

Most people do the patio set at the same time as the indoor furniture, which is the efficient way to buy it.

Questions