The poly will peel off. Depending on how much you like to do work, and how new you want the patio furniture to look...you might want to keep it covered when it's not in use.

If you have a wood deck you're successfully maintaining, treat the wood patio furniture the same. Use the same products and process for the cleaning and refinishing. (operative word: successfully)

Too bad that we can't find a dang outdoor finish that's worth a toot. That's one annoyance about living in CA. I honestly can't recommend one, and there are too many to list which I've tried.

LoL - really? Which has been the best - best for lack of a better word, since apparently they all failed. I keep hearing people talk about marine spar urethane. Have you tried that? I think I'd have to sand off the poly first to apply it though right? Just putting it on top will just make it peel with the poly I'm guessing.

Marine Spar Urethane (generally characterized by Minwax Helmsman) is sort of an oxymoron. Urethane has poor UV resistance, yet it's touted as an outdoor finish. Because it is a long-oil varnish (a higher percentage of oil to resin), it also makes it more soft, flexible, and less water resistant, making it generally unsuitable for indoor or high moisture areas, too. I'm not sure there is a good application for this product.

Here is a link that might be useful: Exterior clear finishes

My fault, I meant Marine Spar Varnish. Upon further reading, it does not contain urethane. It contains a phenolic resin instead. My husband has been doing some reading and is about ready to throw in the towel and just let the poly peel, then we'll deal with it. Seeing as nothing really works, he says we'll probably be doing the work at regular intervals anyway, and we can just skip the first one this way.