5 Ways to Prolong the Lifespan of Your Artificial Lawn

Artificial turf is an excellent investment for your property and artificial turf will bring many benefits to your garden.

But to get the most out of your investment, it's important to make sure your fake grass will last for a long time.

With proper maintenance and use, a good quality artificial turf can last 15 to 20 years, even with regular use.

By far the best way to ensure the longest lifespan of your artificial turf is to make sure it is installed properly in the first place.

Assuming you choose a high-quality artificial turf, you will find that some problems that may arise after a few years are not the artificial turf itself, but the installation.

Therefore, you should make sure you choose a good installer from the start, or, if you go the DIY route, make sure you understand the installation process before attempting to lay artificial turf.

For more information on how to properly install artificial turf, visit this page on our website or view our handy infographic here.

However, in addition to proper installation, there are certain aftercare best practices that should be followed to prevent damage to the fake lawn.

In this article, we explain in more detail five ways you can extend the life of your artificial turf.

1. Regularly Maintain Your Artificial Lawn

The most important way to ensure that your newly laid artificial grass will look its best into the future is to maintain it properly.

Some artificial grass manufacturers and installers claim that artificial grass is "completely maintenance-free."

As much as we all wish it were, unfortunately, that's not quite true.

Anything exposed to the elements will involve some level of maintenance.

But, don't worry, because maintaining artificial turf takes only a fraction of the time it takes to maintain real grass.

Gone are the days of mowing up and down the garden.

Artificial grass requires only a few minor but essential maintenance tasks. How often you perform these operations depends entirely on local conditions and usage levels.

For example, a back garden lawn surrounded by trees heavily used by children and pets requires more maintenance than a front garden.

Leaves and other garden debris inevitably end up on your artificial lawn.

This is of course nothing to worry about as it will not damage or discolor your fake grass in any way.

However, regular removal of debris is recommended, as leaves and other dead matter can lead to weed growth on the artificial grass surface.

Debris can be removed with a broom, plastic rake, or leaf blower/vac.

If any airborne seeds land on your lawn and grow into weeds, these can be easily removed by hand.

Weeds will not be able to grow through your artificial grass as long as a weed film is installed underneath your fake lawn.

When it comes to keeping artificial turf clean, nature usually does a good job for you when it rains.

However, occasional flushing with water may be necessary during prolonged periods of low rainfall.

There is also a range of professional artificial turf cleaning products that can be used on your fake turf, and while these aren't strictly necessary, you may find them useful, especially if your artificial turf gets a lot of use.

In case you're wondering, yes, the vast majority of stains can be removed, but read on as we'll cover that later in this article.

To ensure the plastic fibers of your artificial turf stay in top condition, it is important to occasionally brush your artificial turf with a stiff broom.

If you look closely, you can see that the fibers on the artificial turf are all leaning slightly in one direction.

This is completely normal and we recommend that you brush against or against the fibers. This will lift and revitalize the fibers.

For larger artificial turf, or one that is in particularly poor condition, you may want to consider renting a mechanical brush.

However, a stiff broom will suffice for most fake lawns, but you should make sure you don't use any form of brush with metal bristles as they can damage synthetic fibers.

To learn more about artificial grass maintenance, you may find our previous articles useful.

2. Rotate Heavy Equipment to Ensure Even Wear

Artificial turf is perfect for a variety of activities including sports, garden parties or just relaxing in the sun with a glass of wine.

To prolong the life of your artificial turf, it is important to ensure that your grass wears evenly.

Kids who love football will love playing on their artificial turf as they will feel like they are playing on the manicured lawns of Wembley Stadium. Because of this, soccer goals are a very popular feature of artificial turf.

You need to remember that the goal is a high impact area, so it stands to reason that the artificial grass in this area will wear down faster than other parts.

Therefore, it is important to ensure that the football goal is moved regularly to ensure even wear.

The same goes for any garden furniture, such as deck chairs.

It is normal for the fibers to lie flat after placing a weight on top of them. However, they can be brushed back to an upright position with a stiff broom.

If you have garden furniture or high traffic on your lawn, we highly recommend choosing artificial turf with Instant Restoration Technology.

This means your artificial grass is manufactured using nylon fibers (the strongest synthetic fiber used in artificial grass manufacturing) and is specifically designed to withstand the heavy load and frequent use of garden furniture.

3. Remove Stains When They Occur

The best way to deal with stains on artificial turf is to treat them as soon as they appear. This gives you the best chance of avoiding permanent staining.

Some of the most common causes of staining are:

ketchup

tea and coffee

red wine

Carbonated drinks

ice cream

painting

Fortunately, these types of stains are easy to treat.

Also, be sure to handle overflows as soon as they occur.

Excess liquid can be blotted up with a kitchen towel, clean cloth, or a dry absorbent such as cat litter, then vacuumed from the artificial turf.

If the stain has dried or hardened, it can be removed with a plastic scraper or knife. Never use anything metal as this will damage the plastic fibers.

When dealing with any of the above stains, household cleaners such as dishwashing liquid will suffice and should be wiped with a clean cloth.

Oil-based stains, such as sunscreen, cooking oil, chewing gum, or nail polish, need to be treated with a small amount of petroleum spirit on a clean cloth and wiped over the affected area.

Be careful with petroleum solvents, and be sure to use them sparingly.

4. Prevent Burn Marks

When choosing artificial turf, it is always important to choose one that is fire resistant.

However, just because artificial grass is fire resistant doesn't mean fire or hot objects can't harm your artificial grass.

If fire-resistant artificial grass is exposed to heat, it won't catch fire, but the heat will melt the synthetic fibers.

If this happens to your artificial turf, it will cause permanent damage. This damage is repairable, but it's best to avoid it in the first place.

While there are many factors that can cause your artificial grass to melt, there are three main culprits in a garden setting:

Smoking should not be done on artificial turf. Burning tobacco and soot fall from the cigarette and melt the fibers.

BBQs should be kept away from artificial grass.

We recommend that they should be kept at least 10 feet away from your artificial turf as accidents can happen and the last thing you want is your grill being knocked over and hot coals falling on your artificial turf causing permanent damage sex damage.

The best place to grill is on a patio or other flammable surface.

With high-quality artificial grass, there is very little chance of fading over the years.

However, when artificial grass is exposed to sunlight reflected from windows and other shiny objects, it can cause the color of the artificial grass to fade quickly, and in worst cases, the magnifying effect can melt the plastic fibers.

To prevent this from happening, make sure shiny garden items don't reflect any sunlight onto your artificial lawn.

This should be done by carefully planning your garden layout to ensure that no reflections are cast onto your fake lawn at any time during the day.

5. Apply a Sand Infill

We recommend filling sand in all of our artificial grass products.

You may have heard of some fake grass that claims to be a "no-sand fill" product.

However, there are many reasons why you should install silica sand infill over artificial turf; those who advise you not to bother are usually just doing it to save on installation costs.

As far as this article is concerned, the main message is that filling the fake grass with sand will ensure that your artificial lawn will not only perform better, but look better.

Here are some reasons why you should fill your fake grass with silica sand:

It will protect the fibers and ensure they stay upright

it will prevent ripples

will increase fire resistance

it will improve drainage

it will keep your lawn cool

it will increase security

it will protect the latex back

This will help prevent static

Conclusion

High-quality artificial grass is very hard-wearing and can withstand heavy use by the whole family and their pets for a long time.

Kids will love being able to play all kinds of games and sports on their artificial turf year-round, while the dog will run up and down the lawn without getting stuck in the mud.

However, artificial grass is not completely indestructible, and there are some very important things to keep in mind when using artificial grass on a daily basis.

Contrary to some claims made by artificial grass manufacturers, it is not completely maintenance-free either.

However, you'll soon realize that caring for artificial grass is much easier than real grass, and the benefits of owning artificial grass are numerous.

Installing artificial turf should be considered an investment in your property, and in this article we aim to explain to you how to ensure your artificial turf proves to be an excellent investment for a long time to come.

If you have any questions about extending the life of artificial grass, please feel free to contact us.