To Clean Outdoor Patio Furniture Cushions, Treat Them Like a Rug

Updated June 1, 2023

Harry Sawyers

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Among my questionable consumer product investments: nearly $2,000 on a Joybird outdoor patio furniture set in white. Why white? It was the only color available at a Black Friday sale just before the start of the rainiest Los Angeles winter in recent memory. This spring, when we finally put it out, it stayed clean for about an hour before a passing raven anointed the sofa with a big, grotesque splattered stain. Since then, out among the California super bloom, it's withstood an avalanche of bugs, buds, dust, dog hair, drippings from trees, and always something fresh from the birds.

To get the set clean again, I kinda treat it like a rug.

First, I vacuum it with a mini roller attachment on a Dyson V8 cordless stick vac. This lifts random tree goobers without rubbing their oozy dyes into the upholstery, digs out dried-up crusty stains, contours to the grooves of the cushions, and reaches between the crevices. I do not roll it over live insects, and I avoid anything wet.

Next, I hit it with a rag. A damp rag helps moisten and soften any crusted stuff that's still stuck after the vacuum pass. For spot cleaning, I like unscented Huggies. I do two passes, first removing the big chunks, then dabbing the damp spots to grab any remaining solids or goo. A budget cloth rag also works, especially if the job is too big for baby wipes. First, get a bowl of clean water and dampen the rag. If the cushions are damp from rain or drizzle, start with a dry rag, whipping off the crusted stuff, trying not to smear it. The cushions look like absolute garbage after this step.

Scrub it with a brush. I fill a shallow metal bowl with a teaspoon of Oxiclean and a cup of warm water, then stir that around til the Oxiclean dissolves. For small spot cleaning, I use an old toothbrush, and for bigger stains, I use a 6-inch iron handle scrub brush. Both brushes’ vinyl bristles have a way of prying up pieces from fine weaves of the cushions. It leaves trace damp spots that become undetectable after 15 minutes in the sun.

A brief word of praise for one of the finest tools of its kind: The Rubbermaid Commercial 6-inch Iron Handle Scrubbing Brush. This kind of brush—with an elliptical grip that loosely fits your fingers like brass knuckles for scrubbing—is not exclusive to Rubbermaid, and you can spot its dollar store cousins by their telltale 2-inch blue bristles that are stiff with a slight kink. The bulky peninsula stump handles on the Scotch-Brite and HDX scrub brushes probably work fine, but I like how you can stretch out your fingers in this enclosed space and shift your grip without dropping a slick tool. The straight handle on this Libman or the handle-free Oxo make my wrist and knuckles hurt just looking at them.

The crucial iron handle format—think clothing iron, not made of iron—is weirdly hard to find at Home Depot, Target, or Ace. But it's front and center at janitorial supply houses: At Janitorial Superstore locations in Florida, Budget Janitorial Supply out of Pelham, Alabama, or Ocean Janitorial in Islip Terrace, NY, this is The Brush.

In the future: Prevent the mess. We have a cover. I have been too lazy to open the box and put it on. Now that the couch is clean, it suddenly seems well worth using the cover. It is probably healthy to look at all this like a car wash situation: You know you’ll need to do it again, but it's pretty satisfying to clean it well anyway.

Adapt as needed. Some of your success may come down to the material itself. Our cushions are made of Olefin, a polypropylene fiber; so far, so good. If a basic soap and water mix isn't cutting it for you, try using an OxiClean slurry that staff writer Zoe Vanderweide tested on pit stains. Use a toothbrush to work it in, blot with a rag or paper towel with clean water, and then dab it again with a dry towel. For metal, nonporous surfaces, or most plastics, an all-purpose cleaner should do. You can find more relevant advice in our tests on cleaning an area rug. And if you’re ready to start from scratch, have a look at our patio furniture guide.

This article was edited by Alex Aciman and Catherine Kast.

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