Outdoor furniture covers allow you to be passively proactive in increasing the lifespan of your patio furniture. Whether you live in a northern climate and need to protect you furniture from freezing rain and snow or in a hot southern country and need to protect your patio furniture from salt spray and a blistering sun, outdoor furniture covers will help keep your furniture looking like new.
Outdoor furniture covers are as varied as patio furniture is itself. The types of outdoor furniture that benefit most from being covered are painted metal furniture and specific types of hard wood and soft wood furniture. Without some good quality protection from the elements both of these types of furniture can age and deteriorate rapidly from the elements. Even lovely cedar furniture which fades to a beautiful silvery color can benefit from a bit of salt and snow defense.
In deciding upon which type of covers to buy, you initially need to decide upon the frequency with which you will use the covers. In some areas you might use the covers ever other day, in other areas you might only use the covers once per month when you are away from your home. In other areas you might only use outdoor furniture covers every autumn when you are preparing your yard for winter. If you only intend to use the covers once per year then the ease of taking them off and on becomes less important.
If you live in the tropics, you will likely have wooden patio furniture. The hot tropical sun can remove a layer of varnish in less than one year. In these areas I recommend covering your patio furniture any time that you think you might not use it for 2 or 3 days. It is also very helpful if you pulled your tables and chairs etc into an area where they are most protected by the shade. I realize it is impossible to protect your furniture from all the sunlight but a little effort will go a long way in preserving your belongings.
If you live in northern Europe, or Canada or the northern US, then you do not need to worry about the sun’s harmful UV rays. In these northern locales, the furniture need only be seriously protected during the harsh winter months. The particular types of covers needed for harsh winter protection need to be very durable so they can withstand snow and/or freezing rain.
It goes without saying that certain fabrics are more hardy than others and you should take this information into consideration that when choosing outdoor furniture covers. Tarpaulins of all makes are likely the most hardy materials I am aware of. Although considerably unattractive these tarps might be the most practical for covering up your patio furniture during the harsh winter months. The ugliness of the tarp will likely be covered by beautiful snow soon enough.
In conclusion, there are a number of different things to consider when choosing outdoor furniture covers. If you carefully consider the amount you will actually need to use the covers then you will correctly choose the covers that are best for you.







