Get Your Outdoor Furniture Summer Ready

Turn a formerly drab outdoor space into a fabulous one. Entertaining your family and other visitors will be a breeze from then on.

Image souce: BHG

But everything should not end at that glorious moment. Though your patio furniture covers keep your outdoor pieces safe from dust and the harmful effects of the weather, you can never be too careful. That is why we compiled another set of helpful tips to guide you in cleaning outdoor furniture. Keeping them in good shape doesn’t only ensure the health of your love ones but also protects your investment by prolonging furniture lifespan.

Before going into the details, always remember that periodical cleaning will always be better than out of the cleaning when you just feel like it. A once or twice a month through a cleaning session of your outdoor furniture can do wonders in maintaining them. Though store-bought disinfectants can really help, do not forget about natural ones that are as effective but does not cost you a dime. Let your furniture catch the sun once in a while. Doing so has proven to be an effective way stopping moss and mildew growth. Natural air-drying them is also a good practice.

Make sure to perform material-appropriate cleaning methods so as not to damage your furniture. To give you a head start, we’ve compiled a number of maintenance tips for the 3 most common types of outdoor furniture. Read on to know more about them.

Plastic
This material is one of the easiest to maintain whether they are used inside or outside of the home. Aside from being easy to clean, plastic furniture pieces are also light weight and easy to transfer. This means that you will be able comfortably cleaning your furniture without much hassles.

To clean furniture pieces of this type, having a soap and water solution may be enough. But depending on your preference, you may add a store-bought cleanser for a more thorough clean. Scrub your furniture well and rinse afterwards.

TIP: If using store-bought cleansers, test your solution before cleaning the entire furniture to make sure that the material does not have undesirable reactions.

Wood
This type of furniture has a pretty classic and classy feel to them. However, wooden furniture pieces can be very sensitive to the changes of weather. A cold and damp environment may leave pieces with undesired growths. When this happens, a thorough cleaning with the use of oxygenated bleach solutions is a must. Scrubbing and rinsing well can bring your furniture back its original glory.

Metal
Outdoor furniture made from this material is also easy to clean. A soapy water solution and some elbow grease often do the trick. Soaps that are specifically formulated to clean cars also work best for cleaning grime away from this material. Rust and stains are common problems as well. Using a sand paper to clean the specific problem area is commonly done.

TIP: Rust-prohibiting paints are recommended to be used after sanding to help protect your furniture from getting all rusty again.

Purchasing the right furniture for your outdoor sanctuary is half the job. Keeping them clean and safe for use is another. Formosa Covers, offer quality products to help you protect various investments – from golf carts to outdoor furniture, we got them covered.

Do You Really Need a Golf Cart?

Many fitness advocates will tell you that walking is healthier than driving a golf cart. Golf carts are not just used in golf courses. Today, there are communities that use golf carts as their main mode of transportation. For example, in Peachtree City, Georgia, there are many miles of golf cart paths to make way for golf cart travel, which is what a great majority of the community uses to get around the area. In Florida, there is a retirement village that serves over 70,000 people which is why a golf cart trail system is very important.

Of course, golf cart covers are used to protect these vehicles to make sure that their shelf lives are extended to save on money and time from buying new golf carts all the time.

So what exactly are the benefits of driving a golf cart instead of walking around?

The first advantage to using golf carts is the protection against the heat of the sun. Especially during the summer months, golf carts can shield you from bad weather. It will protect you from the harsh rays of the sun and in some instances, from the rain too. With golf carts, you are protected from overheating in the summer.

In the golf course, using a golf cart eliminates the need to walk, obviously. Walking tires you out easily and when you are drenched in sweat and experiencing fatigue, you can no longer enjoy the game you are playing. A golf cart helps you save precious energy and it also makes possible to carry more equipment and accessories. It becomes easier to carry your golf clubs and other accessories with a golf cart.

Of course, driving a golf cart may be easier than traditional vehicles but it doesn’t mean that you should be careless about it. Practice safe driving whether you are in or out of the golf course.

Safety in Driving a Golf Cart

While it is very tempting to joyride on a golf cart, you should be wise enough to stay away from doing so because it is the number one cause of accidents involving golf carts. Some stupid things that riders do include standing inside the cart, hanging legs or arms outside the cart, not paying enough attention to the road ahead, taking sharp turns at fast speeds, and of course, being intoxicated while driving.

Image source: Adult Care Assistance

Suffice it to say, all road safety practices should also be practiced in the golf course. The golf course is not that different from major roads when it comes to vehicle accidents. You do your best to protect your golf cart by using a golf cart cover but you still end up wrecking the vehicle because of the accident.

The first thing to do once you’ve purchased or rented a golf cart is to read the instruction and safety manuals. They are there for a reason so read them and practice the rules stated in it.

Golf carts come in many designs but one thing that they have in common is that they are always open. They have no windows or doors. Golf cart covers provide the windows and if you don’t have golf cart covers, you should be extra careful. Avoid swinging your arms or hanging your legs outside the cart. This may result to a broken ankle, a sprained food, or worse accidents that can be brought on by tree branches.

Just like golf carts don’t come with windows or doors, they are also not equipped with seat belts. Avoid driving at too high speeds and turning at corners without hitting the brakes first. Someone can easily end up being thrown off the cart and get killed by that. Additionally, don’t hit on the gas if your partner isn’t seated yet.

You think it’s easy driving a golf cart. It may be true but it doesn’t mean that distractions and accidents are totally absent from the equation. Practice common sense and you shouldn’t have problems driving a golf cart on the course.

Gift Suggestions to Make a Golf Lover's Day

So you know someone who’s an avid golf player. In fact, that person may love golf so much and end up staying at the golf course for the entire day. Well, an average round of golf may take around 6 hours so it really isn’t surprising. The person you know may be your dad, your brother, your boss, or a potential business person. It can even be your own mother or sister! Whoever said that golf is just for the boys, right? In any case, maybe that person’s birthday or anniversary is coming up and you are still thinking about what gift to give.

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Guess what? You don’t have to think about it anymore. Here are some great gift choices that you can give for golf lovers and enthusiasts.

Golf Cart Covers 

So maybe you can’t afford to buy someone else a golf cart. Heck, you might not even have one yourself! What’s the next best thing then? A golf cart cover! A golf lover is bound to have his own golf cart so why don’t you show him some appreciation by giving him his own golf cart cover? It’s better if its personalized, perhaps with a name or a message in it.


Golf Lessons
If you have the money to spend and you know someone who loves golf but just doesn’t have the perfect swing yet, the best gift would be golf lessons. Private golf lessons from professionals will help a player discover techniques unknown to most players and have the advantage of being professionally-instructed on golf.


Golf Bags

Image source: C21Key Realty

Beginners who are still experimenting with the game probably do not have their own equipment and accessories yet. Encourage them to the sport by giving a golf bag as a gift. This way, they have their own bags to store their golf clubs. Golf bags with wheels are also available to remove the hassle of carrying them all the time.

Certainly there are more options that you can choose from if you are trying to buy a gift for someone who loves golf. Golf cart covers, golf bags, and free golf lessons are just some of the alternatives you can look into.

The Versatile Golf Cart

If you think that golf carts are used only on the golf course, you may want to think again. Golf carts, as they always should be, must be protected with golf cart covers at all times, especially when not in use. It helps prolong the life of these not-so-cheap vehicles. Over the years, consumers have thought of and developed uses of golf carts in more ways than one.

Image source: Fancy Fibers

For example, golf carts are now being used in the farm. Pretty innovative, don’t you say? Golf carts are driven in the farm to carry hay which is used to feed the horses. In lakes and campgrounds, golf carts can now pull airplanes out of hangars. You may also see golf carts in the airport since they are now used to transport passengers back and forth at a jet charter service.

If you’ve seen the film America’s Sweethearts starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Julia Roberts, and John Cusack, then you might have noticed a golf cart making its cameo in the hotel where the characters stayed at. Golf carts are increasingly being used in hotels for security purposes. Hotel security uses these vehicles to patrol the grounds and effectively catch intruders and violators. Now, they don’t have to run, lose their breath, and let violators escape because they now have reliable golf carts that run efficiently to enable them to do their jobs well.

Image source: Trip Advisor

Because golf carts are relatively small compared to full-size automobiles, they can easily maneuver through small spots. They are also environment-friendly, making them a practical choice for small trips. Retirement homes have used golf carts for years because it allows residents to enjoy the outdoors without endangering their health. They can quickly grab a dose of fresh air without having to walk with their canes that could potentially stress them out. The same goes for campuses. The disabled can also be easily transported from one building to another.

Certainly, there are other ways that golf carts are being used nowadays. The most important thing you could do for you golf cart, if you do own one, is to care for it. Protect it with a golf cart cover to make sure that the harsh environment won’t ruin your vehicle.

How to Behave While Playing Golf

So you’ve recently become an avid player of golf. You may have purchased your own golf cart complete with its own golf cart cover to protect your precious investment. But do you know how to act appropriately once you are driving around the golf course with your golf cart? Just like any other sport, there are certain rules and conduct to follow once you start playing with other people. Here are some rules that could help you gain more friends in the sport.

Image source: Brain Posts

Things that you should never do when driving a golf cart include driving within the hazard boundary lines or within about 10 yards of water hazards or bunkers. Additionally, you should not be driving your golf cart within 50 yards of greens because these areas can easily damage the wheels of your vehicle.

There’s no sense protecting it with golf cart covers if you can’t even drive it in the golf course because of damaged parts. Aside from these restricted areas, golf carts should not be driven in muddy areas and casual waters. On the contrary, your golf cart may be the one to cause damage to the turf in wet areas.

Now, certain golf courses have specific areas where you are not allowed to go, aside from the previously mentioned spots. There are places where the “cart-path-only” rule is in effect and even without this, golfers should still practice it. These are designated areas where golf carts can drive onto and golfers should not stray away from these paths. Driving a golf cart in the soil can speed up compaction, which will result in less-than-ideal growing conditions for turfgrasses. In turn, golfers will be the one to suffer if fairways end up being less than ideal.

So once you have invested in your own golf cart, protect it by purchasing a golf cart cover and by driving in areas designated for it. Not only will it protect your vehicle, but it will safeguard the golf course as well.

Why is Golf So Popular?

Previously, we mentioned how golf is a common sport for businessmen because it gives them the time to discuss business deals and proposals while on the golf course. But if you are not a corporate employee, can you enjoy playing golf at all? Of course, golf is best enjoyed if you have the right equipment and accessories, which means that you have to have a golf cart with a golf cart cover to protect you from the sun and rain. You can always rent one but purchasing one is more practical in the long run.

Image source: Desert Golf Connection

Now, if you are planning to take up golf as a sport, there are many ways you can enjoy this game. For some, golf may be a boring sport because it is very quiet, very much unlike football, soccer, basketball, and other physically-demanding sports. On the contrary, golf is quite enjoyable because it is a form of light exercise. It is great for people with physical conditions such as arthritis and other joint problems because it doesn’t require too much strength and energy for you to enjoy the game. As an outdoor sport, golf is enjoyable because golfers are exposed to fresh air and sunshine which can greatly help the body and its biological processes.

Image source: BBC News

Just like any other sport, golf offers you a distraction. It lets you enjoy the game and free you from your day by day worries. For businessmen who like the game of golf, it provides them with a much needed break and in fact, helps them think clearer. It is not uncommon for businessmen to have lightbulb ideas during a game of golf.

Aside from businessmen building contacts and relationships through golf, families find the game the perfect excuse to catch up with others. Friends hang out during a game of golf while siblings catch up with one another while playing the sport.

Golf is a game enjoyed by many. It doesn’t matter what age, social status, or economic status you belong to. Of course, enjoy it best by having your own accessories and equipment – golf cart with golf cart covers to truly make the most of your game.