Patio furniture covers are an excellent way to protect your outdoor furniture against harmful external elements, especially bad weather conditions. However, if you do not provide enough maintenance to the covers, chances are they will not last for very long or will be unable to offer a good deal of protection to your furniture.

In addition, since patio furniture covers are supposed to protect your furniture, especially from bad weather, it may be difficult to think of ways to prevent water from pooling onto the cover during bad weather.

This is where our helpful article comes in. We’ve got some foolproof ways on how to stop water pooling on garden furniture covers. Let’s get started.

A common question asked is why it is necessary to prevent water from pooling onto the patio furniture cover, apart from making cleaning patio furniture covers extra difficult.

The answer to this is relatively straightforward: if you don’t control the water from pooling, it may cause extensive water and weight damage to the covers. This may affect their longevity, durability, and ability to offer adequate water protection to your furniture.

Some of the most important reasons to prevent water pooling on garden furniture covers are:

Damage To Seams

The water pooling onto the furniture cover can become quite heavy if it is left to accumulate. This excess weight can strain the seams of the covers and cause them to become weakened.

Often small amounts of water can escape from the weakened seams of the covers onto the patio furniture itself. This eventually leads to water damage that is quite difficult and costly to repair.

Damage To Cover

Although most patio furniture covers are water repellant, some have foam inserts that may soak some water after damage to the covers. This is often difficult to reverse and might be irreparable in some cases.

Furniture Cover Sagging

The weight of the water on the furniture cover can cause it to sag. This destroys the custom shape of the furniture and puts excessive pressure on the seams, causing them to become undone.

Furniture Damage

Other than furniture becoming damaged due to seepage of water from collapsed seams of the furniture cover, large amounts of water pooling on the furniture cover can also cause damage to its frame. This is because the excess weight of the water can cause strain on the furniture’s frame, causing it to become slightly disfigured in the long run.

There are several ways how to stop water pooling on garden furniture covers. These include:

Using Buckets And Stands

Before putting on the cover on the patio furniture, put a small bucket underneath and then put the cover on. This forms a tent shape for the cover and creates slanting slides that allow for easy water draining.

The main idea is to create a higher centre than the surroundings. So if you have a centre table that is raised more than the chairs around it, it will naturally create this effect.

Self Draining Covers

Some manufacturers produce custom covers that can help prevent water from pooling onto the furniture. These revolutionary covers have a shape that differs from conventional furniture covers.

Self-draining covers usually have an additional diagonal form in the front that allows water to slide off instead of accumulating on top.

Water-Shedding Poles

Another great way to allow water to drain off from the furniture covers instead of pooling on top is to use water shedding poles. These are especially great for patio furniture sets with a parasol hole where the cover support pole can easily fit inside.

However, it works just as well for other types of furniture. The idea is that the rod creates a slight elevation in the middle of the cover, making a tent shape. This helps to drain the water off from the sides with ease. Here’s a tutorial on how to use a Polytuf table cover support pole.

Sizing

The size of the outdoor furniture cover is of utmost importance. If the furniture covers are too short, they will not offer adequate protection to the furniture. However, if the covers are too long, they can create depressions allowing water to pool.

Furthermore, ill-fitting furniture may also be blown away easily. Right-sized furniture covers are raised slightly above the ground to allow proper air circulation beneath them and prevent mould and mildew from occurring.

Water Protection

Furniture covers need to offer some degree of water protection, especially outdoor patio covers. Some patio covers are waterproof, whereas others are water repellent.

Although waterproof covers offer a greater degree of water protection, they may have some issues with breathability. On the other hand, water-resistant covers protect against light rain but can get soaked during a heavy downpour.

Shape

The shape of the outdoor furniture cover is often an overlooked feature. However, the right-shaped furniture cover can offer extra protection to your furniture. Custom-shaped furniture covers allow for a snug fit so that the covers are not blown away.

Furthermore, you should always ensure that the furniture covers have slightly dropped shoulders. This will help water roll off the furniture cover and prevent it from pooling.

Breathability

The furniture cover material often indicates how breathable the cover will be. For example, patio furniture covers made of vinyl are usually not as breathable as organic material covers. However, you can add vents or slits to the furniture cover to allow air circulation.

Tie Downs

Tie-downs allow the patio furniture cover to be tied securely, and we've written a full guide on how to secure outdoor furniture covers if you'd like to read about this in detail. Not only does this create a snug fit that helps eliminate water pooling pockets, but it also prevents the covers from blowing away during windy conditions.

Pricing

The pricing of the patio furniture cover can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. In addition to the material of the furniture cover, features such as side vents, customised shaping, and self-draining features add to the price as well.

Patio furniture covers can be blown away under rough weather conditions. Following are some ways to prevent this from occurring:

Tie Downs and Drawstrings

Tie downs and drawstrings are an excellent way to secure furniture covers snuggly around furniture. They are affordable, effective, and easy to use as well. Here’s how to tie your Maze Rattan Winter Cover Secure.

Elastics

Furniture cover elastics are a quick method to ensure your furniture cover is fitted well around your furniture with minimal effort. In addition, the furniture cover stays in its place through rough weather thanks to furniture cover elastics. You can watch this video on how to install an elastic sofa cover.

Cover Clamps

This method allows the patio furniture cover to be firmly held in place with sturdy clamps. The cover clamps are the most secure method of holding the furniture cover in place and preventing it from blowing away.

Measuring patio furniture for custom-sized covers can be a bit tricky. You must first start by deciding what furniture you are ordering the cover for and measure that piece of furniture accurately.

The covers should fit securely, but it is always better to get a size bigger than small. This is because if the cover is stretched too much over the furniture, it will lose its protective feature and may become damaged with time. However, too large a cover will accumulate rain and balloon during windy weather.

If you’re unsure about how to place cover clamps, then here’s a quick guide that will make the process easy:

1. Cover your furniture with the furniture cover and secure it through drawstring or buckles.
2. Press the lever on the centre of the clamp and slide the crossbar upwards in the direction of the hook
3. Place the clamps on the opposite bottom sides of the cover and secure them. The teeth of the clamp should be on the hem, then slide the crossbar in the direction of the teeth till they are locked.
4. The first bungee cord should be placed in the front, and the hook must be attached through an insert in the front of the clamps.
5. The other bungee cord is placed at the backside of the furniture. The hook must be attached via the clamp’s inserts found at the rear.

Patio furniture covers can easily become damaged if water is left to accumulate on them. This can cause various degrees of damage to the patio furniture covers and the furniture itself.

Since patio furniture and patio furniture covers can be pretty pricey, it is best to take a few precautions and figure out how to prevent water from pooling on garden furniture covers instead of replacing them frequently. Use our helpful guide to ensure your furniture covers are well protected from water pooling on them.