How to Clean Outdoor Wood Furniture That Needs to be Stained Again

Place the wood furntiure on the grass or on a cement surface. You want to have it somewhere where you can spray the furniture after it has been cleaned.

Fill the cleaning bucket with hot water. Add 3 tbsp. of dish soap. Stir the dish soap in until soapy suds form.

Spray the furniture with a garden hose to get it wet. If your water supply is gray water (ditch or canal water), fill a separate bucket with water from your kitchen tap or tub, and wet the furniture with a rag. Gray water is not clean and can leave a dusty residue behind.

Wash the furniture with the hot soapy water. Use a kitchen sponge to ensure that you don't scratch the furniture.

Spray the furniture immediately with your garden hose, or go back over it with fresh water using a large kitchen rag. If you are cleaning multiple pieces of furniture, clean one piece at a time because you do not want to let the soapy water sit on the furniture while in the sun; it can leave white marks.

Allow the furniture to dry in the sun before beginning the refinishing process.