How I clean my Sunday Porch Swing from Ballard Designs

When we moved into our home, 3 years ago, we bought this Sunday Porch Swing from Ballard Designs as a “congratulations” gift to ourselves 🙂 We love everything about this swing and many evenings have been spent relaxing, listening to music and drinking a glass of bourbon together (our go to porch swinging beverage)! During the day, however, it gets a lot of use from our three girls… reading, swinging, playing, you name it!

For the most part, there have not been many spills (I think I’m the main culprit with my (ahem) morning coffee). However for whatever reason, be it the dry Colorado weather, the blackened, bare  feet of our kiddos propped up or simply the heavy use, the seat cushions get grimy! And fast!

Like I said, we love everything about this swing EXCEPT for one minor (however very important) detail… the cushions are NOT slipcovered! I’m not really sure what BD was thinking here? An outdoor swing that ONLY comes in white (although, honestly, I would have chosen white anyway) and is NOT slipcovered for the outdoor use?? And, yes, our swing is housed on a covered porch. I guess they would rather you purchase their replacement cushions to the tune of $349.00 – $429.00. Ummmm… no thanks! That is half the cost of the swing 🙁

The obvious answer here is to contact my local upholstery company and have them slipcovered with a performance fabric, such as Sunbrella. However, this too would cost a few hundred dollars and frankly, with three kiddos, there are a lot of other things I could spend a few hundred dollars on (Fall school clothes anyone!?) Therefore, I decided to turn to my trusty Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe from Target.

Follow below for my easy steps to cleaning your outdoor porch swing that work every time!

STEP ONE:

Remove all the pillows (it comes with three, standard white throw pillows) and throw them in the wash. The key, however, is to wash and dry them on the DELICATE cycles! This is a fast and effective way to get out the grime without disturbing the shape of the pillows.

STEP TWO:

Fill your Hoover Power Scrub (or preferred carpet washer) with HOT water in the water tank and your desired carpet soap in the other tank. (SIDE NOTE: if you do not own a carpet cleaner vacuum, they can be rented at your local Home Depot).

STEP THREE:

Attach the hand held brush attachment (usually reserved for the stairs). My attachment has a spinning brush, which I find particularly useful for getting deep into the dirt!

STEP FOUR:

Let all cushions completely dry, reassemble and enjoy!

I would recommend cleaning your porch swing every couple of months, however in you are like me, it probably won’t see this Hoover Vacuum until next summer (just keepin’ it real!) 🙂