Your patio or garden is a place where you relax and to have some fun time with family and friends.  Some of us may consider the place as our last sanctuary to get away from the busy world even for just a couple of hours and spend some quality time with ourselves or with our love ones.
It is this very importance of the patio or garden in our total well being that we should attempt every effort to make it clean and to be presentable always.  This is especially true for your patio furniturepatio and the rest of the items that populate your patio or garden.
Yet this part of the job, the cleaning and the washing part seems to be difficult for most of us.  This is because most of us do not have the luxury of spare time in our hands or we just do not like the idea of getting our hands wet and dirty doing the job.
But this may not be the case when it comes to maintaining the cleanliness of your patio cushion.  Cleaning these items is as easy as reciting your ABC or your basic 123.  There is no need to exert some big efforts and upheaval on your part just to get the job done.
Below are some suggestions on how to take care of your patio cushions without really draining you of your precious energy.  First off, you need to check the cleaning instructions that accompanied your patio cushions the first time you bought them.  Simply read it and do it.  But if there is none or you have misplaced it just follow the simple yet practical suggestions below.
•    Get your cleaning rubber gloves to protect you from some cleaning solutions that might irritate your skin.  Get also a sponge, pail of water, cleaning or dishwashing detergents and borax.
•    Mix a few drops of detergents or cleaning agents into a pail of warm water.  Work up a lather until suds starts to form.  Dip the sponge in the solution and start to clean.  Gently scrub the sponge on the area of the patio cushions where it needs cleaning.
•    After the dirt or grimes are removed rinse the area with clean water.  Leave the patio cushions to be dry under the sun.  Turn them to make sure that both sides are thoroughly dry before replacing them back to the furniture.  It is important that these items are totally dry before using or keeping them.  This will prevent mildew from forming.  This procedure could also be done for patio umbrellas when you want to clean them.
•    For patio cushions that have mildew formations on them, you can now use your borax by mixing 1 teaspoon of borax with 1 teaspoon of cleaning or dishwashing detergent together with 1 quart of water.  Mix the solution thoroughly
•    Soak the patio cushions into the solution and leave it for approximately 30 minutes.  This procedure will allow the borax solution to penetrate the cushion to totally kill the mildew.  Borax together with the dishwashing detergent is an effective way to clean stubborn mildew.  Then, rinse it with running water using a soft brush.  Make sure the solution is totally removed from the patio cushion.
•    For every spill of beverage or sodas immediately clean it with a soap and water solution.  This will prevent the stains from hardening and when it does it would be much difficult to remove it later on.
•    If you notice any sun cream or sun block have stained the patio cushion wipe it immediately away.  Sun block lotions can potentially damage the color of your cushion permanently if not removed right away.
Cleaning your patio furniture, patio heaters and even your patio cushion is necessarily not that hard and difficult.  You just need some basic cleaning knowledge to make the job done.  And when you do clean it you will be surprised of how easy it can be after all.