by Lois Breneman, © 2007, Heart to Heart
Recently I washed our very dirty round white fiberglass picnic table and benches without much effort at all, unlike other times. It's a table with connecting benches that we bought for just $20 from Kentucky Fried Chicken when they got rid of them in town about thirty years ago, but it is still in great condition, having had been painted several times.
I think I finally found the best cleaner for the job! Here's how I did it! I put on rubber gloves, poured water over the table, distributed dollops of Dawn Direct Foam dishwashing liquid in a pump onto the wet surface, smeared the soap around with a heavy duty scrub brush, and allowed the soap a little time to loosen the grime. After about five minutes I scrubbed the entire table top with the brush, poured water over it to rinse, used a very worn wet Magic Eraser sponge to remove the few remaining spots of dirt, and rinsed again. This method worked better than any other powerful cleaners I've ever used on this table. I have used ammonia, bleach (always used separately because of poisonous gases if mixed with ammonia), Murphy Oil Soap, and many spray cleaners, and found Dawn Direct to work the best, so far.
I think I finally found the best cleaner for the job! Here's how I did it! I put on rubber gloves, poured water over the table, distributed dollops of Dawn Direct Foam dishwashing liquid in a pump onto the wet surface, smeared the soap around with a heavy duty scrub brush, and allowed the soap a little time to loosen the grime. After about five minutes I scrubbed the entire table top with the brush, poured water over it to rinse, used a very worn wet Magic Eraser sponge to remove the few remaining spots of dirt, and rinsed again. This method worked better than any other powerful cleaners I've ever used on this table. I have used ammonia, bleach (always used separately because of poisonous gases if mixed with ammonia), Murphy Oil Soap, and many spray cleaners, and found Dawn Direct to work the best, so far.
After the table was completely dry, I covered it with a colorful floral vinyl tablecloth, made from tablecloth vinyl at a fabric store and sewn with 1/4 inch wide elastic all around the edge, so the tablecloth hugs the table. The vinyl was cut extending 2-3 inches larger than the top and rounded edge of the table (all around), so the elastic is hidden completely underneath. Stretch the elastic out as you sew with a zig-zag stitch. This works for a round or oval table, though not for square or rectangle tables with corners. If your table has a hole for an umbrella as ours does, cut a hole in the cloth and reinforce with stabilizer and stitch to prevent tearing.
This method of cleaning a picnic table would also work great on lawn furniture, picnic table umbrellas, boats, and wood, vinyl or aluminum siding, though the Magic Eraser sponge is only good on hard smooth surfaces. Dawn Direct, a scrub brush and some elbow grease cleaned the trampoline on our old Hobie-Cat sailboat. It does a really great job on lifting the dirt!
A Few Money-Saving Tips:
1) Save your very used (falling apart) Magic Erasers for the dirtiest jobs such as this, because they still have some mighty power left in them! Those type could be stored (dry) in a Ziplock bag, waiting for grimy jobs.
2) Dawn Direct liquid dishwashing detergent does not need to be in a pump. You could just dilute some Dawn liquid, but I know the Dawn Direct in the pump works!
3) Dawn Direct is too harsh for me to wash dishes without gloves, but it's great for other jobs, using gloves.
4) When empty, save the pump for milder natural hand dishwashing detergents (or Ivory). Dilute - one part detergent to four parts water. Works great!
1) Save your very used (falling apart) Magic Erasers for the dirtiest jobs such as this, because they still have some mighty power left in them! Those type could be stored (dry) in a Ziplock bag, waiting for grimy jobs.
2) Dawn Direct liquid dishwashing detergent does not need to be in a pump. You could just dilute some Dawn liquid, but I know the Dawn Direct in the pump works!
3) Dawn Direct is too harsh for me to wash dishes without gloves, but it's great for other jobs, using gloves.
4) When empty, save the pump for milder natural hand dishwashing detergents (or Ivory). Dilute - one part detergent to four parts water. Works great!
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