I truly hope that Spring has FINALLY arrived!  We saw inklings of Spring trying to come through this past week.  I decided to invite the family over for the 1st Cookout of the Season.

I pulled out all our furniture including the Pads for the seats and swing.  All I can say was "yuck".  The pads had been put away without really looking at the dust, dirt, and yes I will say it.....little "bird droppings' on them.  It was time to clean them up.

Have you ever taken a look inside the crease between the top and bottom portions?  It's is not a lovely site!  In the past, I would have attempted to scrub these using a brush and bucket.  I decided to try a new approach this time.

Yes, I really did put them inside of my HE Washing machine.  They actually fit! I learned to turn the patterned side to the outside versus the inside as each pad washed.  I only put in one chair/seat pad in the washer at a time to ensure that I did not over stuff my machine.

After washing, sometimes a corner of the pad could have become 'bunched'.  I snapped the pads hard in the same manner that you would snap a sheet or towel. Sometimes I had to help the work the pad to the corner by taking the corner with my fingers, push it up into the 'bunch' and find the corner. Then pull it out so that the pad and the fabric fit as they did before the washing.  

As soon as the Wash Cycle was over, I placed the cushions on the chairs to dry.  

Now please know that I found I had to use Lime-a-way to clean the hand rests and also a bucket of soapy water and cloth to clean the top of the table.