We just started moving on to outdoor projects after that very long winter here in Michigan & it feels so amazing!! I can’t be alone on this, but whenever I’m shopping for outdoor pillows or cushions I just can’t find anything I love so I always end up wanting the pillows in the indoor section for my outdoor spaces, but they never hold up long in the elements… until now. This isn’t a new concept for me me, in fact we have used this technique inside our home, but I’m finally ready to start decorating our porch & now I’m bringing this simple technique outside to protect all of our stuff from the elements…
Yup, Scotch Gard. I know you’ve heard of it & it’s honestly the most simple tip to making any fabric waterproof & outdoor safe. I sprayed everything from the rug, cushions, blankets, pillows, & beyond with it so that it was safe from the weather & now I was able to use normal everyday pillows from Home Goods out on our porch. I think I get asked probably three times a week how we keep our stuff outside safe from the elements…well, here’s the answer! I ended up getting two different kinds of Scotch Gard [HERE], but you can read the labels to see which one will work best for your situation. I chose the outdoor ones obviously because I wanted a lot of durability. All you do is spray on your desired fabric in even strokes & voila.. waterproof. It dried super super fast when I sprayed the items & in fact it dried so fast sometimes I didn’t know if I missed a spot or not. I ended up giving things a few layers because I really wanted everything to stay really nice & waterproof. All the fabric still felt like it did originally and nothing was crispy or dis-colored which is awesome. I think the only thing to note about this stuff is the smell.. make sure you wear a mask or are in a very well ventilated area. It got quite stinky & I felt a little dizzy, but the smell also went away quickly after I was done from the air and fabric.
So that’s it, all this fabric was sprayed with scotch gard a few times & I’m probably going to do it one or two more times before packing it all away come fall just to be safe. Now, my play is also to pack things in the house or outdoor storage when I know a really bad storm is coming because we do get a lot of crazy wind here, but for the most part we will be leaving it all out. I hope this helps some of you get motivated to make your outdoor spaces pretty & answers the question of how we keep our outdoor surfaces protected. I will be blogging our porch refresh very soon with more details. Thank you guys so so so much for stopping by blog today & let me know what you think of this trick & let me know how you keep your outdoor fabrics safe as well so I can try your tips in the comments below, find me on Facebook, & chat with me on Instagram. xx
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This is amazing! Thanks for sharing! What a simple fantastic tip!!???
This sounds amazing! Do you think this technique would work for furniture where the porches aren’t covered?
this is a great idea, how do it keep it from fading from sun exposure?