How Long Does Artificial Grass Last? Effective Ways to Prolong Its Lifespan

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

For quality artificial grass, there are some processes you can follow to make the grass last for many years. After this point, you may need to renew the turf—especially if you have permanent stains, flat marks, and discolouration. Here are our top tips for caring for your turf, as well as an answer to the question: how long does artificial grass last?

How Long Does Artificial Grass Last?

Artificial grass can easily last ten years with casual usage. However, it can grow accustomed to many conditions and comfortably last for up to 20 years when used in a back garden lawn. As always, there are some tips you can follow to make artificial grass look natural and last for a longer time. Below are our top tips to remember during installation and for maintenance.

Care Tips to Extend Longevity of Your Artificial Grass

The good thing about artificial turf is that it won’t die if you don’t water it. However, making artificial grass last a long time requires some maintenance to improve its lifespan and improve its overall quality.

Remove Objects and Pet Waste

The main obstacle to look out for is removing pet waste, organic produce, leaves, debris, and foreign objects from the lawn. We recommend using a leaf blower often to avoid leaves from collecting on your fake grass.

It’s also essential that you consider removing any foreign objects as you see them, rather than letting them sit on your artificial grass for longer. If you don’t remove the items, it can impact the grass’s durability and may even lead to indents, a common issue with fake grass.

Clean the Fake Grass

Regularly clean the fake turf with soapy water to prevent the plastic materials from becoming discoloured or dirty.

We recommend that you rinse your artificial grass once a week using regular water. To ensure that your lawn remains its excellent shape for a long time, we also recommend that you deep clean your fake grass at least once a month.

What you will need:

• It is better to use a garden hose, but a bucket with water will do just fine.
• As mentioned above, it is great to have a leaf blower to make cleaning easier and faster.
• If you have a big lawn, a plastic rake will come in handy. Remember, metal materials are not allowed!
• If you have a small lawn, a lawn brush is more than enough. However, for huge properties, you should go for a traditional broom made from fibre bristles.

On another note, you needn’t worry about weed growth. Although you don’t need sand to help the blades grow, you can infill the turf border with sand to create a natural look to artificial turf.

Rotate Heavy Objects Often

Another good habit to get into is regularly rotating heavy objects to maintain a flat, even layer. For example, a football goal can significantly impact the artificial grass, causing a large amount of weight on the surface. It can result in wear and tear much quicker than other parts. To prevent this from happening, ensure that you move the goal to different synthetic grass areas to avoid the base digging into your fake lawn.

The same rule applies to garden furniture, too. For sun loungers, for example, you can flatten them and move them out of the way until you’re ready to put them back together again to relax in the sun when the weather calls for it.

Another tip is to avoid using the same area of fake grass to walk on. You can use an artificial lawn protector to prevent the grass from flattening, helping it to look like natural grass and last for longer. A lawn protector can withstand heavy objects or frequent usage, so they’re well worth the cost.

Remove Stains When They Happen

It’s natural for stains to happen on your turf, but you should treat them as soon as it happens. If you spill sauce, tea, coffee, wine, drinks, ice cream, or more on your artificial lawn, don’t leave the substance there to sink into the grass. It can lead to a nasty stain or, worse, permanent damage.

Blot the excess liquid using a cloth. You can even use cat litter to absorb the moisture. Do this immediately and carry on with what you were enjoying. Then, once the stain has hardened, you can withdraw the substance from your artificial lawn using a knife. But don’t use a metal object, which can damage the synthetic fibres in your grass; opt for a plastic knife.

If you need to remove more of the stain from your artificial lawn, use a household cleaner on the area. Apply a small amount at first and wipe away using a cloth. Washing up liquid will usually do the trick, but you might need to repeat the step using a detergent. Keep in mind that you should avoid using bleach on the grass.

However, for oil-based stains caused by nail polish, oil or body lotion, you can treat the affected area with some white spirit. Use a clean cloth to apply the solution and gently wipe the area. Ensure that you wipe the area afterwards with a damp clean cloth—especially if you have children and pets that use the lawn.

Keep Barbecues Away from the Lawn

We know that you want to enjoy a barbecue on your synthetic turf when it’s sunny outside. Unfortunately, barbecues can cause burn marks on your grass if the hot coals land on the grass. In this case, you can expect permanent damage, and the grass won’t last as long. Instead, stick to keeping the barbecue on a combustible surface, such as pavement. It will eliminate any disasters from happening in the first place.

Moreover, avoid smoking cigarettes on artificial grass. Cigarettes can burn the lawn when dropped, resulting in permanent damage with burn marks on patches of the grass.

Avoid Shiny Objects on the Lawn

You wouldn’t think it, but reflections from the sunlight on windows and objects such as sunglasses can increase colour fading on your polypropylene grass.

In worst cases, the magnification from sunlight reflecting onto artificial grass can melt the plastic fibres, which means that the grass won’t last as long.

You can avoid this from happening by ensuring no reflections casing onto the artificial grass when you install it. And keep on top of removing reflective objects from the lawn.

A Beautiful Lawn Doesn’t Happen by Itself

Artificial grass is a beautiful add-on to your property that does not require high maintenance. Even so, you should know how to take care of it to make it last longer.

How long does artificial grass last? It depends on you and how you maintain it. We hope that our care tips above can help you keep your garden looking beautiful all year round.

Do you have any advice on making artificial turf grass last longer? Share your maintenance tips and how you ensure the best synthetic grass drainage in a variety of conditions in the comments!