When it comes to our homes and everyday life, it’s essential that we take special care of our belongings and possessions. Take our homes for instance. Every week, for many of us anyway, we take out the vacuum cleaner, the feather duster, the mop, and other cleaning items, and we give our homes a general clean and tidying up. We do this to make it presentable, and to preserve our belongings for longer. The same goes for our gardens. When the grass grows too long, we take the lawn mower out and we cut it. When weeds begin to appear, we dig them up and remove them. But what about ornaments, specifically, garden ornaments and statues? How many people do you know that have had a stone statue or sculpture in their garden for a long period of time? A fair few we’d wager, and what colour is their statue now? Is it a smooth, light creamy white colour like when they first purchased it? Or is it now a dull greenish brown colour, coated in a thick layer of dirt, bird excrement and mould? If it’s indeed the latter, then that’s because they haven’t taken care of their statues and ornaments over the years, causing them to look dirty and unappealing. Looking after your statues isn’t difficult, it doesn’t take long, and it can make the world of difference. Here are a few ways in which you can do yourself.

Use sodium carbonate – If your statues are made from concrete, then sodium carbonate works wonders for removing any excess dirt, helping to restore it back to the colour it once was. To clean your concrete statues using sodium carbonate, simply fill up a bucket with 1 gallon of hot water. Next, add 2 ounces of sodium carbonate, and give it a good stir. Remove the statue so that any sodium carbonate doesn’t fall on any flowers that may be growing, and wet the statue with a garden hose. Once it’s wet, take a plastic scrubbing brush, dip it into the sodium carbonate mixture, and scrub vigorously, making sure to scrub everywhere, even places where there isn’t any real dirt. When you’re finished, hose down the statue to remove any remaining residue, and that’s it.

Use regular dish soap – For statues or sculptures that happen to be coated in paint, either matt or gloss finishes, then you need nothing more than regular dish soap and hot water. To clean your paint finished statues, again, remove into an open space away from any plants or trees, and wet with the garden hose. Take a smooth sponge or squeegee, dip into the soapy water, and gently wipe it down. The dirt and grime should wash away effortlessly, and when you’re finished, simply hose the remaining soap suds away. You’ll be left with a gleaming statue or sculpture, that will look brand new again.

Clean them annually – You certainly don’t have to clean your statues and sculptures on a weekly basis, as that would actually do them more harm than good. Once a year however, should be absolutely fine, and will make a big difference in their overall appearance. The best time to clean your statues would be at the beginning of spring, after the poor weather associated with winter has passed. Cleaning them at this time, means that you’ve avoided the poor weather over the winter, and that come late spring when the weather improves, you’ll get to enjoy your statues in the state they’re supposed to be enjoyed in, as opposed to being dull and caked in dirt and mould.