Sometimes a little ‘character building’ in furniture is acceptable, but when it comes to your white wicker furniture, you want to make sure that it doesn’t host the dingy yellow that can develop over time.  You need a few great treatments to keep your white wicker as bright as it was when you had the cost-effective experience of buying your first wicker furniture.

While they are normally quite easy to keep clean from grime, there are a variety of elements that can cause a sort of ‘dinge’ over time.  Here are a few insights to what leads to the loss of brightening of your white wicker, and a few tips on avoiding the unsightly degrading of your beautiful wicker furnishings.

What Can Cause White Wicker to Stain?

There are multiple elements that can cause long term staining in white wicker.  One common element that is quite often used in homes is aromatherapy products.  Aromatherapy – especially when used in the form of candles or incense – can leave a trace on walls and furniture.  It is a tar like appearance, much like the yellow look on white walls in the home of a smoker.  Nicotine, by the way, is another way to cause staining to your white wicker.  If you smoke, the odds of everything around you developing a yellow film are high.

The use of a fire place with wicker furniture can leave a smokey residue that can develop into stains, as well.  Accumulated dust can also play a role in diminishing the appearance of your white wicker furniture.  You want to keep it shiny, bright white, but you’ve seen the dust balls that form in the woven intricacy of your furniture.  Once you really notice it, it’s kind of bad!  You can get rid of that, however, and keep it from happening.  Fortunately, there are also a few ways to avoid the other stains that can occur so you don’t have to ditch your favorite scented candle.

Wicker Friendly, Stain Preventing Cleaners

First of all, if your wicker needs a thorough cleaning, don’t be afraid to strip it of its cushions and hose it down.  What you want to use as a cleaning solution, however, is a bit of ammonia (2-3 Tbsp to a full bucket of water.   Before you take the hose to it, you are going to use this mild solution to break up any grime.  Feel free to use a versatile brush, or even a tooth brush for the crevices from which you wish to expel built up dust and debris.

Once you have scrubbed your wicker furniture down completely, spray lightly with a hose.  In order to prevent water damage, avoid high pressure hoses, and make sure you dry thoroughly.  Do not permit use of the recently cleaned furniture until it has completely dried, as using when wet can lead to warped wicker.  For regular ‘flushing’ of dust particles.  Try using a spray bottle.  You can usually dry most of your wet-down wicker with a dry cloth.  The light spray will be innocent enough to not lead to cracking and will help provide enough of an erosion factor to help keep your white wicker furniture white.