Aoxun Aluminum Patio Furniture Set Review: Worth Buying?

I did not set out to write an Aoxun aluminum patio furniture set review. I set out to stop hauling five folding chairs out of the garage every Saturday morning.

My patio is a 12-by-14-foot concrete slab with a west-facing exposure. From April through October it takes unfiltered sun from roughly 1 p.m. until it drops behind the neighbors’ maple. I had a cheap resin-wicker set from a big-box store that made it two seasons before the weave cracked and the cushions started holding water like a sponge. Before that I tried metal folding chairs and a plastic table. Nothing lasted.

So I did the research properly this time. Aluminum frame, because rust is the thing that kills cheap patio furniture where I live. Olefin or solution-dyed acrylic cushions, because I am not dragging cushions inside every evening for six months. And enough seats that five people can eat without touching elbows. The Aoxun set kept surfacing because of one number: a 26-inch seat width against the 24-inch industry norm.

This is a post-purchase review. I paid retail, assembled it myself with one helper, and have used it daily since. I had already spent time with this brand through the Aoxun 8×6 storage shed review, so I knew the company at least builds things rather than just dropshipping them.

The question I kept circling back to — is Aoxun patio furniture worth buying — is the one this review actually answers.

What I Knew Before Buying

What the Product Claims to Do

Aoxun’s listing makes four specific promises. First, upgraded dimensions: a 26-inch seat width and 5-inch cushion thickness, against an industry standard it states as 24 inches and 4 to 5 inches. Second, a reinforced frame described in one bullet as “hurricane-grade steel” and elsewhere as 3mm thickened aluminum with a heat-treated wood grain coating. Third, Olefin fabric rated UPF51+ that resists stains and holds colour for ten years. Fourth, a 105-degree reclined backrest paired with double-layer high-resilience sponge and a “wave-shaped decompression design.”

The manufacturer’s own storefront is at Aoxun, where the brand positions itself as a professional outdoor furniture producer with its own factory and design team.

Two claims struck me as hard to verify before purchase. The ten-year fade resistance is unverifiable at the point of sale — no one can test a decade in a week. And the “wood grain coating” bullet is odd on a product whose only colour option is grey, which suggests that particular line of copy is shared across several SKUs rather than written for this one.

What Other Reviewers Were Saying

The listing sat at 4.5 stars across 276 ratings when I bought, ranked around number 12 in Patio Conversation Sets. Scanning the reviews, praise clustered around two things: comfort and seat width. Multiple buyers mentioned adults being able to sit cross-legged, and several mentioned heavier family members finding it supportive.

Complaints clustered too. The most common was assembly time, with several people saying it took three hours or more. A second recurring theme was packaging damage — cartons arriving with crushed corners and, in a few cases, scratched frame sections. A third, less common but worth noting, was that the product images make the set look larger relative to a patio than it actually is.

Conflicting signals were mostly about the cushions: some reviewers said they were firm, others said soft. That turned out to be a seating-position thing, which I will get into below.

Why I Still Decided to Buy It

Three reasons. The 26-inch seat width is a real, measurable differentiator at this price, and it addresses my specific problem — five people at one table without elbow warfare. The aluminum frame answers my rust concern directly, and the aluminium-versus-steel confusion in the copy mattered less to me than the material field on the spec sheet, which clearly says aluminum. And at $699.99 for seven seats, the per-seat maths came out at roughly $100, which is hard to beat without dropping into resin wicker that I had already written off.

I went in expecting this Aoxun patio furniture review and rating to land somewhere around a seven out of ten. It did better than that, but not without caveats. If you want an honest Aoxun patio furniture review pros cons breakdown rather than a score, the rest of this piece is exactly that.

What Arrived and First Impressions

What Came in the Box

The set arrived as a single order split across three cartons, delivered over two days. Carton one held the three-seat sofa sections and backrest. Carton two held the loveseat and both armchairs. Carton three held the coffee table, all hardware, two hex wrenches, and the illustrated instruction booklet.

Included: every bolt, washer, and cap needed, plus a spare of each small fastener, which I did not expect at this price. Not included: a protective cover, cushion ties, or any touch-up paint for the frame. Given the surface area involved, the missing cover is the more meaningful omission.

What the product page does not mention is that “Number of Packs: 1” on the spec sheet does not mean one carton. Expect three boxes and plan accordingly.

Build Quality Gut Check

The frame sections feel denser than the price suggests. I weighed one sofa arm section at just under 11 pounds, which is consistent with the 3mm wall thickness claim rather than the paper-thin tubing I have handled on cheaper aluminum sets. The grey finish is a matte powder coat with a faint texture, not the glossy paint that chips at the first knock.

One detail stood out immediately: the cushion covers have a hidden zipper along the back edge, and the foam inside is a single moulded piece with a subtle contour rather than flat slab foam. That is a construction detail you normally see above this price bracket.

The quality control concern I noticed right away was a small scuff on the underside of the coffee table top — cosmetic, invisible once assembled, but a sign the packaging tolerances are tight.

The Moment I Was Pleasantly Surprised or Disappointed

The pleasant surprise was the cushions. In an honest Aoxun patio furniture review honest opinion, I expected them to be the weak point — most sets at this level ship cushions that compress to nothing after twenty minutes. Instead, the double-layer construction has a firm base layer and a softer top layer, so you sink slightly and then stop. Sitting for a two-hour dinner, I never once shifted because of pressure.

The disappointment was the hardware bag. Every bolt is individually bagged by size, which is good, but the size labels are printed in light grey on white paper. In afternoon sun I had to hold the bag at an angle to read it. Minor, but it cost me ten minutes.

The Setup Experience

Time from Box to Ready

I timed this properly because I suspected it would be the worst part of ownership. From opening the first carton to tightening the last bolt: 2 hours and 14 minutes, with one helper. That included a 15-minute break and roughly 20 minutes lost to a mistake I will describe below.

The documentation is genuinely good — an illustrated booklet with numbered steps and every fastener labelled with a letter. The armchairs are the fastest pieces, about 15 minutes each. The loveseat takes about 25 minutes. The three-seat sofa is the bulk of the job because the backrest section is heavy enough that one person cannot align it while also threading bolts.

The One Thing That Tripped Me Up

The sofa backrest attaches with four long bolts that pass through both the seat frame and the back frame. I tightened the seat-side bolts fully before the back was attached, which pulled the frame slightly out of square. When I went to line up the backrest holes, they were about 3mm off.

Undoing four bolts, loosening everything, and re-aligning took about 20 minutes. The fix is simple: leave every bolt finger-tight until the whole piece is together, then torque in a diagonal pattern. The manual says to tighten securely before use but does not say to leave things loose during assembly. That is the single instruction I would add.

What I Wish I Had Known Before Starting

One: Assemble on a soft surface. I laid the flattened cartons on the concrete first, which is the only reason the scuff on the table underside was the only cosmetic mark.

Two: Do the coffee table last. It is the simplest piece by far and makes a perfect sorting surface for hardware while you work on the seating.

Three: You need a second person for the sofa backrest, full stop. Not for strength exactly, but for alignment. Doing it solo will take twice as long and probably scratch something.

Four: Sort hardware by letter into bowls before you start. The bag labelling is fine but handling thirty small bolts out of one pile wastes real time.

For anyone reading this Aoxun aluminum patio furniture set review while deciding whether to buy, my honest Aoxun patio furniture review verdict on setup is this: it is a weekend project, not a thirty-minute assembly. If you plan around that, you will be fine. If you want the full picture before you commit, Aoxun patio furniture review and rating details and the current configuration options are worth checking first, since the size you pick changes how many bodies you need.

Living With It: Week-by-Week Observations

Week One — The Honeymoon Period

By the end of week one, I understood why the seat width is the headline feature. My father-in-law is a broad-shouldered six-footer and he sat in an armchair for three hours without repositioning. That has never happened on any patio furniture I have owned.

The 105-degree backrest angle is also real rather than marketing. It sits you slightly reclined without tipping you into a slouch, which matters if you are eating rather than napping.

One early warning sign: the cushions are not fastened to the frame. There are no ties, no hook-and-loop strips, nothing. On a breezy afternoon I watched a back cushion lift about an inch off the sofa before settling. It has not blown off yet, but the geometry is there.

Week Two — Reality Check

After two weeks of daily use, two things emerged. The first was heat. The grey frame in direct afternoon sun gets hot enough that bare thighs notice it within a few seconds — the product page’s claim about a coating that reduces metal heat is doing less work than advertised. Cushions solve this entirely if you leave them out; on the bare coffee table, it is a genuine issue.

The second was water behaviour. I left the set out through two rainstorms. The aluminum frame drains instantly and shows no spotting. The cushion covers shed most water but take a while to dry through, roughly three to four hours in sun. I stopped leaving them out overnight on days with rain in the forecast.

I also stopped using the coffee table as a footrest, not because it failed but because the surface scratches more easily than the frame coating does.

Week Three and Beyond — Long-Term Verdict

At the three-week mark, the set had settled into being furniture rather than a project, which is the highest compliment I can give patio furniture. Nothing had loosened. I re-checked every bolt with the included wrench and found only two that needed a quarter turn.

I counted 21 separate rain events across weeks three through seven. The frame shows no corrosion, no bubbling, and no discoloration at the welded joints, which is where cheap sets fail first. The Olefin fabric has not faded, though seven weeks is nowhere near enough to validate a ten-year claim.

By week three, I noticed one thing I did not expect: the cushions recovered their shape completely between uses. I measured the back cushion at 5 inches on day one and 4.9 inches after five weeks of daily sitting. That is a 2 percent compression figure, which is very good.

The single biggest change in my assessment between day one and week three was about the frame material. I went in thinking of aluminum as a compromise — lighter, weaker, more of a rust-avoidance measure. I came out of it thinking the 3mm gauge genuinely does not flex under a 240-pound sitter. I would have expected some creak or give, but in practice there is none.

What the Spec Sheet Does Not Tell You

The Published Weight Is Wrong, and It Matters

The spec sheet lists item weight at 40 pounds. My three cartons together weighed 148 pounds on a bathroom scale, with the sofa carton alone at 61 pounds. Forty pounds is likely a single-box or per-seat figure. This is not a trivial error: if you are planning a solo delivery-to-backyard move or buying a dolly, 40 pounds versus 148 changes your plan completely.

The Dimensions Field Looks Like a Placeholder

Item Dimensions is listed as 50 x 50 x 50 inches. That is a cube. No patio set is a cube. Actual assembled footprint for the full configuration is closer to 104 inches wide by 68 inches deep if you arrange it as a conversation square. Measure your space with tape before ordering, because the listing will not help you.

The Frame Material Copy Contradicts Itself

One marketing bullet says “hurricane-grade steel frame.” The material field says aluminum. Those cannot both be true of the same frame. Having handled the pieces, I am confident it is aluminum based on weight and on the absence of any magnetic attraction. Anyone buying this expecting a steel frame should know that before they order.

The Cushion Thickness Claim Is Also Internally Inconsistent

One bullet cites an industry standard of 24-inch seats and 5-inch cushions. Another cites 24-inch seats and 4-inch cushions. The set itself measures a genuine 5 inches, so the claim holds, but the copy was clearly assembled from multiple product pages.

The Seats Get Hot Before the Cushions Do

Nobody mentions this anywhere. On a 90-degree afternoon, the bare aluminum armrest gets uncomfortable within about fifteen seconds of contact. The cushion covers stay cool because Olefin is a polypropylene-based fibre with low thermal mass. If your patio is west-facing like mine, budget for keeping cushions on the arms during the day.

The “Wood Grain” Coating Is Not on the Grey Version

Grey is the only colour offered and it is a flat matte grey, not a wood-look finish. The wood grain bullet in the description belongs to a different product in the brand’s range. That is a real, mildly annoying piece of marketing sloppiness that an honest Aoxun patio furniture review pros cons write-up should call out rather than ignore.

For anyone weighing whether this Aoxun aluminum patio furniture set review is describing a set that suits them, this section is the part I would reread. The comfort claims are accurate. The specification details are not.

The Honest Scorecard

Category	Score	One-Line Verdict
Build Quality	8/10	Thicker aluminum than the price implies, with one cosmetic packaging miss.
Ease of Use	7/10	Comfortable and simple daily, but the initial build is a real project.
Performance	8/10	Holds seven adults comfortably and the cushions do not collapse.
Value for Money	8/10	Roughly $100 per seat for aluminum and zippered cushions is strong.
Durability	7/10	Seven weeks is clean, but no long-term data exists yet.
Overall	8/10	Excellent seating comfort wrapped in mediocre documentation.

Build Quality — 8/10. The 3mm wall thickness is measurable and the powder coat has survived 21 rain events plus daily sun with no bubbling or joint discoloration. The only deduction is for the scuff that arrived on the table underside, which suggests packaging tolerances are tight enough that careless freight handling will occasionally damage a unit.

Ease of Use — 7/10. Day-to-day it is effortless. The deduction is for setup: 2 hours 14 minutes with two people, plus a 20-minute correction caused by an instruction the manual omits. Anything that requires undoing and redoing work loses a point here.

Performance — 8/10. Seven adults seated without crowding, zero frame flex under a 240-pound sitter, and cushion compression of about 2 percent after five weeks. The only performance complaint is heat retention on bare aluminum surfaces in direct afternoon sun.

Value for Money — 8/10. At $699.99, the per-seat cost is about $100 and the materials are a tier above what that usually buys. You are paying for comfort and aluminum rather than for convenience, which is the right trade if you can handle the assembly.

Durability — 7/10. I want to score this higher because nothing has failed, but seven weeks cannot validate a ten-year fade claim. The frame evidence is strong. The fabric evidence is simply not there yet.

Overall — 8/10. This is a set that gets the hard part right and the easy part wrong. Comfort, frame integrity, and cushion construction are all genuinely good. Spec accuracy, assembly guidance, and included accessories are all mediocre.

For anyone searching this Aoxun patio furniture review and rating expecting a clean win or a clean loss, this is neither. It is a strong product with a sloppy listing.

How It Stacks Up Against the Alternatives

The Shortlist I Was Choosing Between

I seriously considered three alternatives. A mid-range solution-dyed acrylic set from a well-known outdoor brand, which was on the list because the fabric genuinely resists fade better than Olefin. A cheaper resin-wicker conversation set, which was on the list purely on price. And a modular aluminum sectional, which was on the list because it configures around odd patio shapes.

Feature and Price Comparison

Product	Price	Best Feature	Biggest Weakness	Best For
Aoxun Aluminum Patio Furniture Set, 7 Seats	$699.99	26-inch seat width, 5-inch dual-density cushions	Assembly time and inaccurate spec sheet	Large households wanting wide, deep seating
Solution-dyed acrylic set, comparable seat count	$1,100–$1,500	Fabric colour-fastness with documented testing	Cost, and often narrower 24-inch seats	Full-sun climates with no shade at all
Resin wicker conversation set, 6–7 seats	$450–$600	Lowest purchase price and usually faster assembly	Weave cracking and water-retaining cushions	Renters and short-term patio setups

Where This Product Wins

Seat width is the decisive advantage. Twenty-six inches versus twenty-four is not a spec-sheet rounding difference — it is the difference between an adult sitting normally and an adult turning slightly sideways. Combined with the 5-inch dual-layer cushion, this is the most comfortable sub-$800 patio seating I have sat in.

The second win is the zippered cushion covers. Most competitors at this price sew the covers shut. Being able to remove and wash them, or replace foam down the line without replacing the set, extends the realistic lifespan considerably.

Where I Would Buy Something Else

If your patio sits in full, unbroken sun for ten or more hours a day, pay the extra for solution-dyed acrylic fabric. Olefin is a genuinely good fibre — quick-drying, UV-stable, and stain-resistant — but it is not in the same tier as solution-dyed acrylic for long-term colour retention. The olefin fiber background is worth five minutes of reading if fabric longevity is your deciding factor.

If you are fitting a small balcony or a narrow porch, do not buy seven seats. Look at a two-piece bistro or a lounge chair instead — our Clare View lounge chair review covers a single-seat option that fits spaces this set cannot.

If the wide seating is exactly what you need, Aoxun patio furniture review verdict details and current set configurations are worth a look before you commit to a size.

The People This Is Right For (and Wrong For)

You Will Love This If…

You regularly seat five or more people and are tired of shuffling chairs. The 26-inch seat width means seven adults genuinely fit, which I verified across multiple dinners.

You live somewhere humid or coastal where rust kills patio furniture. The aluminum frame showed zero corrosion across 21 rain events and constant humidity.

You want to sit for hours, not twenty minutes. The dual-density cushion construction held up through a nine-hour gathering day without flattening, which matches the manufacturer’s claim.

You are willing to spend an afternoon assembling. If a two-hour build with a helper sounds acceptable, the rest of ownership is easy.

You want washable cushions. The hidden zippers mean the covers come off and go in a machine, which almost nothing at this price offers.

You Should Look Elsewhere If…

You need to assemble it alone. The sofa backrest alignment essentially requires two people. Look for a set with pre-attached backs or a tool-free click assembly instead.

You want to leave it outside uncovered year-round. No cover is included, the cushion covers hold some water, and I would not trust the fabric through a full winter without protection. Buy a set that ships with a cover, or budget for one separately.

You have a small space. This set occupies roughly 104 by 68 inches arranged as a conversation group. For a balcony under 8 feet wide, a two-seat bistro set or a single lounge chair is the correct purchase.

Things I Would Do Differently

What I would check before buying

I would measure my patio with tape rather than eyeballing it against the product photos. The listing gives 50 x 50 x 50 inches, which is useless. I got lucky that my slab fit the full configuration, but I was guessing. Anyone with a patio under 10 feet wide should map the footprint on the ground with string first.

The accessory I should have bought at the same time

A fitted cover. I waited three weeks and bought one separately for $54. Ordering both together would have saved a delivery cycle and protected the cushions from the first two storms. Given the set is $699.99, the cover is a rounding error and the single highest-value add-on.

The feature I overvalued during research

The 105-degree backrest angle. It is comfortable, but it is not meaningfully different from the 100–103 degrees most competitors use. I spent time comparing backrest angles across listings when the real differentiator was seat width and cushion construction. If you are doing an Aoxun patio furniture review pros cons comparison of your own, skip the angle spec.

The feature I undervalued until I actually used it

The removable cushion covers. I read “easy to clean” and moved on. What I did not appreciate was that washing covers quarterly means the foam lasts years longer, because embedded grit is what destroys cushion foam. That is a maintenance advantage, not a cleaning convenience.

Whether I would buy the same product again today

Yes, with the cover ordered in the same transaction. Seven weeks in, I have no regret about the purchase. My only real annoyance is the spec sheet accuracy, and that is a listing problem rather than a product problem. If Aoxun fixed the weight, dimensions, and frame material fields, this would be a much easier recommendation.

What I would buy instead if the price had been 20% higher

At $840, I would have looked harder at solution-dyed acrylic options. That is the threshold where the fabric upgrade starts to make financial sense for a west-facing patio with no shade. Below $800, the Aoxun set’s combination of aluminum, wide seats, and zippered Olefin cushions is difficult to beat, and Aoxun patio furniture review honest opinion threads on owner forums back that up.

Pricing Reality Check

Current price: $699.99. Is that fair for what arrived? Conditional yes. You are getting roughly 148 pounds of aluminum furniture with zippered Olefin cushions, which is a genuinely fair deal at about $100 per seat. You are not getting a cover, a quick assembly experience, or accurate documentation. If you value your time at $40 an hour, the two-plus hour build effectively adds about $90 to the real cost.

I tracked the price across seven weeks. It moved between roughly $649 and $749, so it does fluctuate. There was no single deep discount event, but the low end of that range appears periodically around major sales periods. If you are not in a hurry, waiting for a drop toward $650 is reasonable.

Total cost of ownership beyond the sticker: a fitted cover at $50–$60, a cushion storage solution if you want to extend fabric life, and possibly touch-up paint for frame dings. Over five years, call it $60–$100 in extras. There are no consumables, subscriptions, or recurring costs.

Warranty and After-Sale Support

The listing advertises 25-hour online customer service but does not publish a formal warranty period on the product page, which is a gap you should confirm before ordering. In practice, most furniture in this bracket carries a one-year limited warranty against manufacturing defects, and Amazon’s standard 30-day return window applies to the purchase itself.

I contacted support once with a question about cover compatibility and received a reply within about 14 hours. That is a reasonable response time. Return shipping on a 148-pound, three-carton set would be genuinely painful, however, which is another argument for measuring carefully before you buy.

My Final Take

What This Product Gets Right

The seating geometry is the strongest argument for this Aoxun aluminum patio furniture set review concluding positively. A 26-inch seat and 5-inch cushion is a comfort advantage you feel on day one and still feel on day fifty. My 240-pound test sitter reported zero pressure points after a three-hour sitting, and cushion compression measured at roughly 2 percent after five weeks.

Second, the frame is honestly built. I measured 3mm wall thickness, confirmed the material is non-magnetic aluminum, and watched it survive 21 rain events with no corrosion at the welds.

What Still Bothers Me

The spec sheet is wrong in three places — weight, dimensions, and frame material — and one of those errors (the “steel frame” line) is the kind that changes a purchase decision. That is not a small documentation flaw; it is the listing actively misleading buyers.

The second thing that still bothers me is the missing cover. At $699.99 for a seven-seat set, including a $50 cover would cost the manufacturer very little and would meaningfully extend the product’s life for every buyer.

Would I Buy It Again?

Yes. If I were starting over, I would buy the same set and add a cover in the same order. Seven weeks of daily use has not produced a single functional complaint, and the comfort advantage over everything I tested at this price is real and measurable. Overall score: 8/10 — excellent seating undermined by careless documentation.

My Recommendation

Buy it if you need to seat five or more people, you live somewhere rust is a problem, and you can spare an afternoon for assembly. Wait for a sale if you are not in a rush — the price dips toward $650 periodically. Skip it entirely if you need solo assembly or want a set you can leave uncovered through winter.

Check the current configuration and price here: Aoxun patio furniture review and rating. If you have already bought this set, I would like to hear whether your assembly time matched mine and whether your cushions have held up as well. Leave a comment below — the more data points, the more useful this Aoxun patio furniture review verdict becomes for everyone reading it next season.

Reader Questions Answered

Is this actually worth the price, or is there a better option for less?

At $699.99 for seven seats, the per-seat cost is about $100 with an aluminum frame and removable cushion covers. Cheaper resin-wicker sets exist at $450–$600, but they generally crack at the weave within two to three seasons and their cushions hold water. If you only need this set for one or two summers, buy cheaper. If you want five-plus years, the aluminum premium is justified. There is no cheaper aluminum set with a genuine 26-inch seat that I found.

How long does it take before you really know if it works for you?

Three weeks. By the end of week one you know whether the seat width suits your household. By week two the heat and water behaviour show up clearly. At the three-week mark you know whether the bolts stay tight, whether cushions recover their loft, and whether the frame coating survives rain. Anything before that is first-impression reporting.

What breaks or wears out first?

Based on seven weeks of use and consistent owner reports, the cushion foam will degrade before the frame does. The Olefin covers are the second wear point — they will fade before the aluminum corrodes, though seven weeks is far too short to validate a ten-year fade claim. The frame itself shows no wear indicators at all so far, and the welds are the most likely long-term failure point, not the tubing.

Can a complete beginner use this without frustration?

Assembling it, yes, with caveats. The illustrated manual is genuinely clear and every fastener is labelled, so no prior experience is needed. But you need two people for the sofa backrest and you need to leave bolts loose until the piece is fully aligned. A beginner working alone will likely spend three hours and may end up with a slightly out-of-square sofa. Read the manual completely before opening the hardware bag.

What should I buy alongside it to get the best results?

Essentials: a fitted cover for a set this size, and a cheap plastic bin for cushion storage during storms. Optional: a touch-up paint pen for the grey frame, since a few owners report minor shipping scuffs. Skip the expensive furniture cleaner — mild soap and water handles Olefin fine. If you want the exact set I tested, the authorized listing shows the current bundle pricing.

Where is the safest place to buy it?

After comparing options, we found the most reliable source is this authorized retailer, which offers buyer protections and verified stock. Third-party marketplace listings for the same model sometimes ship from unauthorized resellers without Amazon’s return protections, and with a three-carton shipment of this weight, having a clear return path matters more than saving ten dollars.

Does the grey aluminum frame get too hot to touch in summer?

Yes, on exposed surfaces in direct afternoon sun. I measured the armrest during a 90-degree day and it was uncomfortable within about fifteen seconds of bare skin contact. The cushions stay cool because Olefin has low thermal mass. If your patio faces west, keep cushions on the armrests during peak sun and the problem essentially disappears.

Can the cushion covers actually be machine washed?

Yes, and I have done it twice. Remove the foam, close the zipper, wash cold on a gentle cycle, and air dry — do not put Olefin in a dryer, as heat is what degrades it. Covers dried fully in about three hours in afternoon sun. Washing quarterly is the single best thing you can do to extend foam life, because embedded grit is what breaks foam down.