How to Fix Faded Aluminum Patio Furniture Without Paint

After a failed Pinterest hack and the dread of painting, we found an easy, way to quickly restore and fix faded aluminum patio furniture fast—and the results are amazing!

Is your patio furniture looking faded, tired, and in need of a little freshening up?

My mom’s patio chairs around her fire pit were in the same boat—chalky, dull, and worn from years in the sun.

Faded aluminum patio chair, oxidized cast aluminum chair.

The idea of painting them felt overwhelming, especially with everything else on our to-do list.

She even found a hack on Pinterest and gave it a try… but it was a total fail!

We started wondering—would we have to haul out the paint supplies just to bring these chairs back to life?

Thankfully, after a little digging, we discovered an amazing product that removes the chalky oxidation that builds up on cast aluminum patio furniture—and the best part?

No painting needed!

This is not a sponsored post—we’re just excited to share how incredibly easy it is to fix faded aluminum patio furniture in just minutes.

Trust me, you’re going to want to see these amazing before and after photos—scroll down to check them out!

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Failed Pinterest Hack

We started by trying a Pinterest hack that promised to restore the luster and shine of faded patio furniture using car wax.

It sounded simple enough—clean the chair, apply car wax, let it dry to a hazy finish, and then buff it out.

We gave it a shot on the arms of one chair, and while the surface felt a little smoother after buffing, it actually looked worse than when we started!

Arm of faded chair after applying car wax, still looks faded.

Instead of reviving the color, the finish looked even more chalky and dull.

We were so disappointed!

We also came across another hack suggesting WD-40, but honestly, we weren’t willing to risk ending up with an oily finish on the chairs.

At that point, it felt like painting might be the only option left—which was overwhelming just to think about.

Thankfully, with a little more research, we found a much better and easier solution!

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Clean Patio Furniture

Before beginning to restore the chairs, it’s important to make sure they’re completely clean.

We grabbed a couple of microfiber cloths and wiped down each chair thoroughly, making sure to remove all the loose dirt and buildup.

Patio chairs are cleaned with a damp microfiber cloth before restoring the faded patio furniture.

The worst part of cleaning the chairs was cleaning off all of the spider webs.

It was the perfect place for the spiders to nest over winter.

And we’re both terrified of spiders!

Lucky it was mostly webs, but we did run across one big spider that gave us a good scare.

Quick tip: Be sure to let the chairs dry completely before moving on to the next step—applying the restoration solution works best on a clean, dry surface!

If you’re new here, welcome! We’re so glad you’re here.

Let us introduce ourselves, we’re Michelle and Steph, a mom and daughter team who love to DIY and decorate our homes.

Not only are we passionate about making our homes warm, comfortable and unique, but it’s our mission to help you create that same feeling in your own home.

You’ll find ideas for repurposing, creating, decorating and making your home truly yours, while always mindful of a tight budget.

Undoubtedly we love finding ways to make your home look high-end on a small budget.

Plus you’ll also find a recipe or two as we share our family favorites with you.

We’d love it if you’d join our community of doers so you won’t miss any inspiration for your home.

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Apply Restoration Solution

After a lot of searching, we finally found a product that promised to remove oxidation and fix faded aluminum patio furniture without the hassle of painting—AL-NEW Aluminum Restoration Cleaning Solution.

This post isn’t sponsored; we’re just genuinely excited to share something that actually worked!

To get started, we gathered a few basic materials: gloves, a microfiber cloth, and, of course, the AL-NEW solution.

First, we put on gloves for safety—this is a chemical cleaner, so you’ll also want to wear eye protection.

We poured a little of the solution into a disposable container (an old cottage cheese container worked perfectly).

Then, we dipped a microfiber cloth into the solution and simply wiped down each piece of patio furniture.

Faded patio furniture is restored by applying an oxidation remover to cast aluminum furniture.

Immediately, we could see the oxidation lifting away—it was just that fast and easy!

After applying the solution to each chair, we took a dry microfiber cloth and wiped off any excess.

Restored faded aluminum patio furniture, buffing chair.

Working together, we were able to restore each chair in under five minutes, which is so much quicker and less stressful than prepping and painting them.

Just one coat did the trick!

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