Outdoor furniture for public and commercial use must withstand sun, rain, wind, and heavy use while maintaining a great look and lasting performance for years. Draffin Street Furniture offers almost all products in low-maintenance options. The secret behind this is to select materials that are resistant to the environmental conditions they will be subjected to.
Read about the different materials that make up low-maintenance outdoor furniture and why these materials offer long-lasting value in commercial and public spaces alike.
Why Choose Low-Maintenance Options for Outdoor Furniture?
Low-maintenance materials are designed and manufactured to withstand the elements without frequent repairs, repainting, or replacement, and resist rust, rot, fading and corrosion.
These materials are engineered for daily use, making them ideal for parks, streetscapes, schools, hospitality venues and other shared outdoor areas where durability is essential. Low-maintenance finishes also include vandal-resistant options, keeping your site looking clean for longer. Choosing low-maintenance options means making a smart long-term investment that saves time, money, and resources while keeping outdoor spaces looking their best.
Draffin has the latest and greatest designs for commercial outdoor furniture in Australia. And the best part is that all designs have multiple material options to tailor the furniture to suit your application.
Draffin has the latest and greatest designs for commercial outdoor furniture in Australia. And the best part is that all designs have multiple material options to tailor the furniture to suit your application.
Low-Maintenance Outdoor Furniture Materials
Outdoor Timber Furniture
Furniture with timber has high appeal in many ways. It has a great natural look and feel and can be sourced sustainably with the ability to capture carbon. You can let it age gracefully by holding back on some regular maintenance if you want this look. There are Australian municipalities that prefer timber furniture without protective coatings, relying on the timber to age in its environment, eventually gaining a natural aged look. Our Spotted Gum Timber is carefully selected to endure Australia’s harsh environments and can offer an extended life over other non-treated outdoor timber products.
Timber will age, but you can stave off the signs of ageing by coating and regularly recoating the timbers, using commercial-grade water-based finishes like the type we use in manufacturing.
Obviously, this makes timber inevitably a material that requires maintenance. But what if you want finishes that look the same year after year without the effort? Thankfully, there are multiple materials available for almost all products and components:
Low-Maintenance Steel Options
Choose furniture made entirely of mild steel or stainless steel. This furniture is extremely heavy-duty and built to endure almost any abuse, and will look good year after year.
Mild Steel Furniture
Mild steel furniture (like this colourful setting) is hot-dip galvanised for corrosion protection. Galvanised mild steel can be left as the final finish or finished with powder-coat colours that match your decor.
Stain Steel Furniture
Stainless steel furniture offers a sleek look and will outlast all materials because of its corrosion-resistant properties. It can be electropolished for even greater corrosion protection. This is the premium maintenance-free outdoor furniture option. Draffin Street Furniture ensures that the stainless steel used in all furniture products contains the lowest possible impurities, as low-quality, impure stainless steel remains susceptible to corrosion. High-quality stainless-steel products will continue to look good and last well beyond 100+ years.
Read our Stainless-Steel Guide for more information:
Enviroslat Composite Battens
Option furniture that utilises battens with Enviroslat Composite materials. This material is made with bonded recycled wood pulps and plastics and only requires an occasional wash to maintain its appearance. The colour softens after the first few months of weathering and then retains its general look year after year. The colour runs completely through the material and would never need painting.
The setting is a notable example of low-maintenance public furniture installed in a park where limited maintenance is expected. The Enviroslat battens, combined with galvanised mild steel frames, provide a perfect blend of materials that will look good year after year without so much as an occasional wash down.
HDPE Recycled Plastic
HDPE Recycled Plastic is a low-maintenance material made by using post-industrial waste plastics. Recycled HDPE Plastic is hardy and made in many colours. Most furniture made from this material can be cut and shaped to create comfortable seating and solid tabletops.
Plastic is a durable material that, like composite battens, does not split or crack, so maintenance is generally not required beyond occasional pressure washing. And as an added benefit, HDPE is one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle and even re-recycle.
Aluminium Battened Furniture
Steel-framed furniture with aluminium battens can be finished to look the way you want.
Aluminium is strong, has a uniform look and is highly corrosion-resistant. By default, all aluminium battened furniture is anodised to provide a smooth silver finish that is simple to keep clean. If you want a specific look, you can choose a powder-coated finish or timber-look finishes for a more natural appearance.
Timber-look aluminium is a game-changer, providing a convincing natural look of timber, while removing almost all maintenance that would normally be needed for outdoor timber furniture. Our timber-look aluminium is available in three styles: alpine ash, mountain gum, and ironbark.
Frequently Asked Questions
What materials require the least maintenance for outdoor furniture?
The materials that require the least maintenance are stainless steel, galvanised steel, and aluminium. These materials are corrosion- and rust-resistant and won’t sag or splinter, making them great for heavy-duty public use.
The next best options are HDPE recycled plastics and the Environslat composite material. These materials are also rust- and corrosion-resistant. Typically, they can be used in all settings, but if the battens don’t have enough support, the material may sag under intense sun and UV exposure.
How long does stainless steel outdoor furniture last?
In public-use outdoor environments, stainless steel furniture commonly lasts 20+ years. Occasional cleaning, like wiping the surface down with mild cleaners and inspecting for damage, can prolong the life of your furniture.
What’s the difference between timber and composite outdoor furniture maintenance?
Furniture maintenance is vastly different for timber and composite outdoor materials. Timber furniture requires periodic reapplication of the protective coating (also known as oiling and sealing). We recommend performing this maintenance annually to ensure long-lasting protection. Furniture made from composite or recycled plastic materials generally requires only wash-down cleaning and doesn’t require sealing or oiling.
Which outdoor furniture material is best for coastal environments?
In coastal environments, outdoor furniture needs to withstand exposure to salt air and humidity. The best materials for this environment are aluminium and grade 316 stainless steel.
Do low-maintenance furniture materials comply with accessibility standards?
Yes, low-maintenance materials can absolutely comply with Australian Standards and DDA compliance requirements. Compliance is not about the material alone. Accessibility is determined by seat height and depth, armrests, backrest design, wheelchair clearances at tables, placement and circulation paths, and more. Designers and specifiers need to remember to select a compliant design and low-maintenance materials.
What routine management is needed?
Routine management should include a regular cleaning with mild detergents, inspection of all fixings, and monitoring for early warning signs such as rust, chips in the coating, or sagging materials.
Street Furniture Customisation
What sets Draffin Street Furniture apart from many others is our flexibility to collaborate with customers to deliver custom street furniture solutions tailored to their needs. Our highly skilled engineers, welders, machine operators, and assembly and dispatch teams at our factory in Bayswater, Victoria, treat every order as custom. This ensures low-maintenance outdoor furniture products are built to a high standard and able to withstand a lifetime of public use while matching your exact requirements.
With nearly 70 years of manufacturing experience and learning what works and what does not, we build products that will last the longest in public spaces. To discuss products that last long in public spaces, contact our team.
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