Shopping To Enjoy My Free Time

One of the biggest challenges for any homeowner can be maximizing the enjoyment you get from your home's outside space. A large yard is great for planting flowers and running around, but it's also important that you have a nice, quiet spot to relax and enjoy nature. Purchasing a hammock can go a long way toward making that relaxation possible.

Once you've made that purchase, however, it's important that you take the steps necessary to protect it. Below, you'll find a guide to some steps you should take to maintain your rope hammock, allowing you the peace of mind to know it'll be strong and comfortable every time you need a place to go to wind down.

Sun Protection

As with other kinds of furniture, direct exposure to intense sunlight can threaten the longevity of your hammock. The sun's rays can cause splitting and fraying of both wood and rope, and having your hammock in the sun will also make it less comfortable and harder to enjoy.

You should do your best to secure your hammock in a shady spot with plenty of tree cover. This will not only prevent it from wearing down under intense heat, but it will also guarantee that you can use it for relaxation without worrying about sunburn or other negative consequences that come with excessive exposure.

Rope Cleaning

Any piece of furniture that is left exposed to the outdoors will inevitably gather dirt and stains, and a hammock is no exception. Indeed, because most hammock users lie down with a great deal of their bare skin touching the ropes, it's important that you keep them as clean as possible.

Gentle scrubbing with warm water and standard dish soap should remove most outdoor stains. You should also take care to hand dry the hammock if at all possible, as allowing moisture to set in to the ropes risks them warping, shrinking, or otherwise being damaged during the drying process.

Wood Maintenance

While you may not consider the necessity of applying varnish or finish to your hammock, it's often an important step in making sure it lasts a long time. The wooden hardware on your hammock will inevitably wear down over time, risking both its look as well as its physical strength. Applying a coat of permanent, all weather sealant is a great way to guarantee that mold, mildew, and other threats are repelled while also maintaining the look that you want for your relaxation spot.