Care Tips for Australia’s Best Bean Bags

Basic Principles of Maintaining your Epona Co Bean Bag.

 

Epona Co. Lifestyle Bean Bags have been made from the best quality fabrics and materials so they will last for years.  We’ve designed them so they won’t fade, degrade or go out of shape.

Proper care and maintenance of your luxury bean bags will ensure your bean bag stays looking as awesome as you do and remains your favourite piece of furniture for as long as possible, and here are a few tips to help you:

1. Clean dirt and food off them regularly.  Mould will grow on food and dirt that gets left on your bean bag, so clean it if it gets food or dirt on it at the time.  Don’t leave dirt or stains on your bean bag as that will encourage mould growth.  Particularly before you store them for the winter in a cool, moist place.
2. Extend the life of your bean bag by storing it in the shade.  If possible, store your bean bag out of the sun, and it will last longer.  Our Olefin Fabric is a dedicated outdoor fabric which is designed to live in the sun and the weather, but you will extend the life of it if you keep it out of the sun for extended periods.
3. Always dry it out.  If it gets wet, (including the base which is easily forgotten), move it around and allow it to dry.  Don’t let it sit in a wet environment for prolonged periods of time.  If it is beside the pool, tip it up overnight or when not in use so it can dry out underneath.  Similarly, if you are going to store it, make sure that the beans or the fabric are not wet, as this will encourage mould to grow on the moist, dirty areas of the fabric.
4. Refill your bean bag when it starts to look flat.  Your beans will compress over time, which will leave your bean bag looking flat.  How quickly this will happen will depend greatly on which beans you use and how frequently you use it.  Standard beans from your local department store such as Kmart or Target are large and spongy, but not as dense, so will compress quicker, as opposed to the Epona Co. Microbeans which are smaller and more dense so they don’t compress anywhere near as much.  
5. Protect your zip from corrosion.  The pool environment is extremely harsh, and will corrode almost every metal.  Protect you your zip by coating the metal zipper with an oil or grease such as lanolin or other anti-corrosion product.  A quick spray and a regular bit of movement will prevent your zipper from corroding and breaking.
6. Avoid harsh surfaces.  Some pools have abrasive sandstone coping tiles, which look lovely, but will wear the fabric and stitching of pool bean bags if they are floating past and rubbing on them all the time.  Be aware of this and keep an eye on the stitching.

If you do all of these things, you can help to extend the lifespan of your bean bags and maximise cost-per-use.

If you have any questions about the care and maintenance of our luxury bean bags contact us.

Care Instructions:

You should give your Epona Co. Bean Bag a wash every 6 months or so to remove any grime, food, dust, etc that may gather on it... this will prevent mould growing, as mould will not grow on the fabric itself, it needs dust or food to nourish it.

As it starts to warm up and many of you will be pulling your Epona Co. Lifestyle bean bags out of storage and getting them ready for spring… If they were moist when they went away or had a bit of dust etc on them in storage, they will probably need a bit of a clean up. Depending on where you live, you may have a bit of mildew etc forming, so here are a few tips for cleaning them up so they look great for summer.

For small stains
Give them a spot clean, leaving the cover on, use warm soapy water, even a bleach mix and give them a scrub. Let the soap or bleach sit for 20 mins and give another scrub before hosing it off with a jet on the hose.

For covers that are stained all over
Remove the cover (careful your zip hasn’t corroded from your pool water), place it in a bucket and soak it in a bleach mix. After 20 mins, place into a front loader washing machine – one at a time and give it a good heavy wash. If it doesn’t clean up the first time, give it a 2nd go and it should look like new. Place it back onto the beans and put it in the sun to dry.

Can’t remove the cover as the zip has corroded?
If your zip has corroded over time due to pool chlorine etc, leave the cover on and give it a more vigorous scrub, allow the cover to sit with a bleach and warm water mix for 20 mins and then squirt it with a jet on a hose.

If you need any tips on how to care for your bean bag, drop us an email.

Stuck Zipper 

It is common for zips to lock up and corrode in the salty pool environment. To prevent this, spray your zip with a little bit of lanolin or other anti-rust product as you are setting it up.  If you miss this however and the zip does seize, spray the metal with some WD-40 or similar product, put a paperclip through the zipper and pull it back and forward with some force. It may take a few pulls but it should gradually start moving again. Once you have it moving and back in place, give it a spray with some Lanolin or drop a bit of oil on it so the oil goes inside the zipper and covers the bits inside the zipper. It will then be protected from the harsh corrosive environment from the pool.

Common Q&A about Epona Co. Lifestyle Bean Bags.

1. Can I leave my Bean Bag outside?
   Yes, however it will depend on the fabric you have purchased. Epona Co. have recently moved the majority of our bean bags to a dedicated, outdoor furniture fabric, which we guarantee will last for at least 3 years.  While they are designed for outdoor use, prolonged exposure to sun will reduce the life and colour of your bean bag. To ensure your bean bag ages as well as you do, we suggest keeping it in a shaded area when not in use and out of direct sunlight.  Please check that your bean bag is made of Resort Quality Olefin Fabric if you are looking for a long life product.

 

1. Will my Bean Bag go Mouldy?
   Our outdoor fabric is an excellent material for mould resistance and normally will inhibit mould growth. However, if your bean bag experiences a lot of wet or damp weather and is not dried properly, then mildew may grow on dirt or other substances sitting on the fabric. Bean bags should be kept clean and free from dirt and grime to minimise the chance of mould growing on them.  
    
2. Can my Bean Bag go in the pool?
   Our Resort Moby and Nemo, and Floating Pool Loungers are especially designed for the pool.  It is their ability to drain rapidly with a mesh liner and base that optimises this.  Our other outdoor bean bags can withstand getting wet however will not drain as freely as the bean bags with the mesh liners.  Therefore we don't recommend them for the pool.  If they do end up in the pool and water penetrates the inner bag, simply remove the inner bag and let it drain, then reinsert into the cover when dry.
    
3. My Bean Bag has got water into the inner bag, is this a problem?
   No matter how the bags are made water can still penetrate through the zip and seams. If you find your inner bag has got wet for any reason - simply remove the inner bag, allow it to drain and dry in the sun. Once the inner filling is dry, reinsert the inner bag into the outer cover.
    
4. My Bean Bag has lost some of its shape and comfort is this normal?
   Depending on how much use your bean bag gets this may happen at some point. The polystyrene beans slightly compress and lose shape over time.  This causes the bean bag to appear under filled and can effect comfort and shape. Simply top up the bean bag with filling to a level that you deem comfortable.  You can simply order more micro beans from Epona Co. with the zip-on bag to make filling easy as… or you can drop in to your nearest department store and get some filling from there.