We are thinking of getting an outdoor whicker sofa for the patio. How do they weather? They are a lot of money and I want to make sure that we get more than one season out of it. Obviously we wouldn't leave the cushions outside, but what about the sofa itself?

I assume for most garden dirt/dust etc. we could just hose it down, but wouldn't it start to lose colour and/or the nice look? Is there any kind of water repellent spray or something that we should use to treat it before it goes outside?

Thankyou.

I'm put off by the fact that they might look good this year, but will look tatty by next year. Obviously I haven't got anywhere large enough to store them over the wintertime, so they would need to live outside. Can you get decent covers for them to protect them from rain and frost?

we got a big plastic tarp thing that we wrap over it and it seems OK. Just make sure it's dry underneath. You might want to raise the feet somehow to stop the wooden bottoms rotting away. We keep the cushions inside though.