Freshen Up Outdoor Furniture With An Ice Hack Just In Time For Summer

Relaxing on your patio under the shade of your favorite trees is as good as it gets — until some sap spoils the fun. Whether you love to lounge on a fantastic outdoor sectional couch or enjoy an al fresco meal at your functional, stylish DIY outdoor patio table, sap may leave you scrambling to get inside. Sap is the lifeblood of trees, but when it drips down from those branches into an outdoor oasis, it's not quite as life-giving to us. Sticky and stubborn, it can be annoying to remove from items like clothes and cars.

It also likes to cling to patio furniture. Thankfully, though, there's a hack that's among the best ways to easily clean up tree sap — and it uses items you probably already have around the house. By placing a plastic bag full of ice cubes on top of the sap, you can harden it enough to make it easy to remove it using a flat tool like a butter knife or paint scraper.

Next time you notice stray sap on your patio furniture, stick some ice cubes in a plastic bag big enough to cover the affected area. If the sizing works, you could also employ a reusable ice pack. Place it atop the sap for a few minutes, until the sap feels cold and solid. Next, use a blunt, flat device like a non-serrated butter knife, spoon, scraping tool, or even an old credit card to gingerly pick away at the sap.

The hack works because ice freezes the sap, congealing it into a less-sticky, more-easily-removable lump. It's a great method to use on furniture that's particularly delicate, like outdoor couch cushions or a painted wooden table. Those surfaces can handle a little cold, but might not hold up well against harsher cleaning methods like rubbing alcohol, vinegar, or hard-bristle brushes. Just be sure to scrape with care — and maybe consider a little outdoor furniture rearrangement so you can spend more time relaxing and less time cleaning it.