Question

My garden seating area is north facing and in the shade all day until late summer evening. I have lovely outdoor sofas with really big thick cushions but find i cant use them as if i leave the cushions out they are either soaked if had rain, or damp and dewy even if has been dry. They dont dry fast with being in the shade too. Ive tried tarpaulin covers but beasties then house there and I currently store them in a little shed but theyre still dewy and by the time ive got them set out my small kids are causing havoc and ive lost my 5mins of sit down time! ‍♀️ Any ideas? I cant move the sofas to a sunnier area as there isnt one  Am i better off getting rid and getting a bench or something? Any pics of what shaded seating you have please?  

Answer 1

Could you hang them on the fence/wall in a sunnier spot so they dry off in the sun

Answer 2

Spray the fabric with water repellent do a test on unseen area before you do the rest.  

Comments

@feingold thankyou thats good to see a product like that. Do you think it would work on something laying flat out in the rain?  

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@coverley they are so thick and as in the shade just dont dry out. Totally not what i hoped for. Its such a lovely set but not in a north facing garden after the rain!  

Answer 3

When not using mine, I vacuum pack them using the large vacuum bags you get from Home Bargains. Keeps them dry and prevents them getting mildew on them.  

Answer 4

Does anyone know what to wash the plastic rattan base with? Its gone a bit green but worried to clean it incase rub the colour off!  

Comments

@downcome do you have any fast way to dry them out? I dont get much time to sit and chill (small kids! ) So for them to be damp / have to get them all out and set them up each time removes the fun so i tend not to bother. Wondering if to just get a bench!  

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The ones on the ground are from homebase, solar ones.  

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@erythrism18579 when my cushions are damp I just chuck a throw over them  

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That's my other side of garden now, looking a bit neglected tho, shame on me  

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These lights are good too, again Amazon. Indoor or outdoor they are, and very bright too. Their sealed inside plastic tubing and pretty much indestructible  

Answer 5

Put them up the loft for the winter you can’t leave cushions outside in the weather we have

Comments

@trail70282 its summertime that is bad too, they just dont dry out being in the shade and are dewy wet on a morning even when its been hot and dry for days.  

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No we definitely don’t have the climate to leave cushions out common sense really

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@trail70282 in summer?  

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Don’t leave mine out even in summer usually rains in the night they smell and go mouldy

Answer 6

Mine are behind my couch, can’t see them and I know they are safe. I lost a full set to mice in the shed ‍♀️

Answer 7

We store ours in a garden storage we take them in every evening and put them out every morning x

Answer 8

Paint with fabsil tent paint ( it waterproofs everything) buy a tin online and they won’t get/stay wet.  

Comments

@citified oo thanks will check that out

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@erythrism18579 I paint my biking gear and walking gear in it, and painted some cushions in it last year as wasn’t buying “garden” ones. X

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@citified oh great thanks. Do you find the wated just runs off the cushions? Do you literally just paint it on with paintbrush or put in washing machine?  

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Just paint it on with a paint brush, and yes it just runs off or becomes droplets which you can shake off.  

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@citified sounds great thanks

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Laura Hogarth fabsil tent paint for your cushions

Answer 9

In winter get a garden storage box for them x