Tips for Maintaining Your Swing Set
time2022/04/08
- If you're not sure where to start, here are some helpful tips and tricks for inspecting, cleaning, and maintaining your outdoor swing or ride.
Regular swing set maintenance as the season's change, especially around winter, is a great way to ensure optimum safety and play. It's also one of the best ways to make sure your outdoor playset looks great and remains functional for many years to come.
With spring here and kids playing outdoors more, now is the perfect time to revisit your swing set and check for any damage winter has done.
If you're not sure where to start, here are some helpful tips and tricks for inspecting, cleaning, and maintaining your outdoor swing or ride.
Protect your swing in winter
Before we dive into swing set maintenance, it's important to make sure you're taking good care of your swing set even in the months you're not using it. We recommend removing the removable parts, storing them away, and applying a fresh coat of sealant as you start to approach winter. You might also consider covering the swing with a tarp/canopy to protect it during the colder months. This is especially important for wooden swing sets as it prevents rot and allows you to keep the wood less often.
How to check your swing?
Before your child starts climbing on the swing again, do a thorough inspection of the entire structure. Pay special attention to roofs, hinges, bolts, screws, ropes, cables, chains, and anything else that may be a potential safety hazard. If you notice loose planks, frayed ropes, or rusted metal, be sure to fix it as soon as possible.
If you have any accessories for your swing set in storage during the winter, be sure to check those accessories when you reinstall them. If you're reinstalling a slide, swing, or climbing wall, be sure to secure each piece with the appropriate bolts and screws. If you misplaced last year's bolts or screws, just head to your local hardware store and they'll help you.
How to repair a wooden swing?
Maintenance of your wooden swing set may require more effort than just standard reassembly. Here are some of the most common repair problems and our solutions to fix them.
Repair planks
Board loose? no problem. Just find any loose planks, remove the screws, and place them on different parts of the wood. This redistributes the tension on the wood and can actually help straighten planks and planks that have warped slightly due to time and weather.
Remove plank
If the board is warped or cracked beyond simple repairs, remove and replace it before letting your child play on the swing. If changing planks seems daunting to you, don't worry!
Find the board that needs to be replaced, and use a power drill to remove one piece at a time. From there, grab a good set of wood screws and start replacing them one at a time.
Reassemble the playset
Maintenance of swing kits sounds like a lot of work. However, the more consistently you maintain your structure (about once a season), the less you have to do at any one time. You can try incorporating it into your yard work routine or even do a quick quality check every time you mow your lawn or maintain your garden.
Taking the necessary steps to protect your swing is an important part of swing maintenance, and making sure it's clean is just the beginning. At the end of the day, proper maintenance is about keeping your kids safe and giving them a gift that will help create lasting memories. If you keep up with maintenance, your swing will last as long as your kids are willing to play on it!
The above describes the maintenance of outdoor swings. If you plan to buy a swing set for your child, please contact us.
Big Elephant Play is a professional custom children's sports and fitness equipment manufacturer. Relying on 22 years of production service experience and 15 years of industry experience, we provide a full range of service systems from product design, manufacturing, quality control, marketing, and after-sales support. We aim to provide 2.5 billion children around the world with great childhood memories and healthier, more enjoyable lifestyles.