How To Deep Clean Your Porches + Patios to Keep Them Clean + Fresh All Summer
I have been meaning to share my patio cleaning tips and tricks with you all over the past couple of years and finally got the chance to share while in the process! I wanted to share my deep-cleaning tips with you all since I had so many questions about how I clean my porch and keep it looking nice thorughout the summer. I really want this space to feel like an extension of our home and as much like a truly living space as possible but that means I have to work extra hard to keep it clean, free of bugs, and looking fresh! I linked my favorite products below. For a step-by-step behind the scenes look, make sure to check out the “Patio cleaning” highlight on my Instagram stories too!
xoxo
Emily
Vacuum/sweep your patio and remove any rugs. I vacuum everything from the rugs, to the cushions, to the pillows, to the corners of the patio with my Ridgid wet-dry vacuum from Home Depot. I cannot say enough good things about this!
Next, drag everything out into your yard and in the sunshine so you can hose it down. Depending on your patio set up, you might be able to do this on your patio, but if it is covered I would not because it will flood the area.
Wash down all your cushions and pillows. I use dawn dish soap and a scrub brush with water. You can make a watered down solution, or put the soap directly on the cushions. Rinse it off with the hose and let it dry in the sun.
Next, spray down the furniture with “Krud Kutter Window Cleaner” that you hook up to the garden hose. I know it sounds odd to spray your patio furniture with window cleaner, but trust me it works and gets everything super sparkly and clean (I have also used a similar patio cleaner that hooks up to the hose from Windex before and it also works great!) ! In this step, don’t spray the cushions, only the furniture. Flip them upside down to ensure you get all the spider webs and mold/mildew from the underside as well where it really gets built up. This also works great to wash outdoor lanterns too!
Let everything dry in the sun. Before you put the furniture on the porch, spray every corner of your porch with bug spray. I start by spraying the perimeter as well as the corners, beams, ledges, baskets, and ceiling fan. I even spray my freshly cleaned furniture (after it has dried) on the top and underside to prevent any spider webs or bugs in the future (they especially like to make webs under tables/corners of couches/chairs too). I used Ortho Home Defense Crawling Bug Killer. Repeat this step every 2-3 months to keep your patio space and furniture bug free!
Finally anything I can’t remove from the porch or smaller accessories/items, I spray down with some Mr. Clean cleaner and/or Scott’s Outdoor Cleaner to freshen it up and remove any mold/mildew residue that may have built up.
Scrub brush (look for a pretty coarse one but pretty much any kind will work!)
Water + Hose
Mr. Clean Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist (optional - for the tough stains)
Scott’s Outdoor Cleaner - Mold, Mildew & Algae (optional - for mold)