SANTA CRUZ (July 2009) - Everyone loves a thrift store bargain. But that interesting coffee table or retro chair usually carries baggage from a former life, such as ratty upholstery or lime-green paint. Sure, it can be fixed, but it's hard to know how much time and money it will take to transform your bargain into a beauty.
Recycling vintage furniture can be creative and rewarding if you choose your project carefully. Here are some tips for tackling one of the easier projects - recovering and refinishing dining-room chairs.
I recently found a set of four sturdy chairs at a local thrift shop, and snapped them up as good candidates for a makeover.
The chair seats were covered in a funky striped fabric, and the frames were slathered with gloppy brown paint. But their “bones” were good, none of the pieces were wobbly or had obviously been repaired, and the heft of the chairs convinced me that they were solid wood.
Unless you have expertise in furniture repair, don’t bother trying to rescue rickety or broken chairs. Chairs are difficult to fix properly, and people can be badly injured if a chair collapses beneath them.
Beginners should also avoid elaborate pieces with lots of spindles, detail and carving. stripping old paint out of all those tiny crevices can be a royal pain, and add up to a half-finished project that never leaves the garage.
USE HAND TOOLS
Most chair seats are held in place by four easily-removed screws. Flip the chair over and use a hand screwdriver to ease out the screws. (A power screwdriver can strip the head of an old screw with a single squeeze of the trigger, leaving you with big problems.) Put the screws in a plastic bag and tape or staple the bag to the wooden base of the seat, so they don’t get lost.
Pop the chair seat free, and check to see if the fabric is held in place with staples or upholstery tacks. Use the screwdriver, pliers or the prongs of a hammer to pull out the tacks and staples, and peel off the old covering. You may find two or three layers of crusty old fabric, and beneath that a layer of foam or horsehair padding. Remove it all, including every last staple and tack.
If the foam is not flattened and crumbling, you may be able to reuse it. If it’s too far gone, toss it out. (If it’s horsehair, don’t even think of reusing it!)
Set the seat aside, and take a look at the chair frame. Sometimes the paint or finish is intact, and only needs a good scrub. If this is the case, lucky you! But if the paint needs to come off, it’s time to gather your tools and get ready to make a mess.
DON'T SKIMP ON SAFETY
Paint remover is strong, dangerous stuff, and you need to work carefully and take safety precautions when using it. There are now several brands of “green” or less-toxic stripper available, and they are less stinky and scary to work with than the old-school toxic gunk. But not all “green” products are worthwhile, and even the good ones may not be appropriate for your project.
Most “green” paint stripping products are water-based, and should not be used on veneers or laminated wood, as the water can cause veneers to crack and buckle. Water-based strippers won’t hurt solid wood, but can raise the grain, requiring a little sanding after the paint is removed.
The less-toxic strippers tend to be less powerful than the strong chemical solvents, tend to take a little longer and may not work as well on multiple layers of paint.
SOME "GREEN" PRODUCTS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS
I used Fastrip paint and varnish remover on the first of my chairs, a "green" brand that claimed to be a “Semi-Paste” consistency that would cling to vertical surfaces. In fact, the Fastrip was the consistency of milk, and ran immediately off the chair surface, left drip marks on the finish and made a huge mess. After two passes with the Fastrip, I had to break out the Jasco paint stripping gel, which combines methylene chloride and methanol, to remove all the paint still stuck to my chair.
That “green” product didn’t provide any environmental benefit, in addition to being a waste of $17. But on previous projects I’ve used Citristrip, an orange-peel based gel that worked very well. Next time, I’m sticking with the Citristrip.
No matter what type of stripper you use, wear chemical-proof gloves, eye protection and a paper face mask. Tie your hair back to prevent strands from getting in the solvent and slapping into your eyes or mouth. And work outside or in a well-ventilated space.
Even the environmentally friendly products are intended to dissolve paint on contact, so consider what an accidental splash might do to your retina, your lung tissue or to a child or animal that stumbles into your workspace.
START SCRAPING
Use an old or cheap paintbrush to coat the unwanted paint with a thick layer of stripper, wait 15 minutes or so, (read your product instructions), and scrape off the bubbled paint with a plastic scraper. (Metal scrapers will gouge the wood). Paint stores sell plastic putty knives, but my favorite tool is a little green plastic bowl scraper I found at Chefworks for less than a buck.
Scrape away as much of the paint as possible, always working in the direction of the wood grain, then use rags to wipe all excess goo off the surface. Use the rag like floss to get residue out of joints. An old toothbrush can come in handy. Turn the chair upside down to make sure you've reached all the surfaces.
When the chair is dry, use medium-weight steel wool to rub off any remaining bits of paint. Then give the whole piece a quick once-over with the steel wool, always rubbing in the direction of the wood grain. The wood should be smooth to the touch and completely splinter-free when you are done. If you want, go over the piece one more time with extra-fine steel wool, which can polish the surface as smooth as glass.
Use bricks or blocks to raise the chair off the ground, and apply whatever new finish you desire. I prefer natural finishes like Tung or linseed oil, which are nearly non-toxic, let the beauty of the wood shine through, and are easily repaired if scratched.
If you use oil, rub it in with a clean rag, let it dry, then give the piece a final quick polish with extra-fine steel wool.
MAKE A SEATING PLAN
Once you’ve got the finish applied, it’s time to recover the seat. If your chair is going to be used for meals, choose a covering that is easy to clean. Fabric stores like Hart's in Santa Cruz, Beverly’s in Soquel and Fabric Outlet in Watsonville have big selections and many inexpensive upholstery remnants to choose from. These stores also carry sheets of foam for replacement padding.
I decided to recover my chairs with leather from Leatherwise in Santa Cruz, a little pricey at $15 per seat, but beautiful and easy to clean.
Replacing the seat cover is easier if the new material is supple enough to ease around the corners and is not too thick. Cut enough fabric to cover the seat and wrap around the bottom with 3 or 4 inches to spare. Center any pattern, stretch the fabric taut, and use a staple gun to fix it to the bottom of the seat.
Screw the seat back onto the chair, and you’re done.
I paid $13 apiece for my chairs at Goodwill, and spent another $90 on stripper, steel wool and leather. Altogether, my set of four vintage oak chairs ended up costing about $140, which is a bargain for well-made furniture.
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Maria Gaura has worked as a newspaper reporter for two decades, including stints at the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Contra Costa Times and, most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle. During her 11 years at the Chronicle, Maria worked from the newspaper’s San Jose bureau covering everything from elections to an extortion scam involving a human finger in a bowl of fast-food chili. Maria left the Chronicle in 2005, and has since been freelancing for SantaCruzWire, public radio and the San Francisco Chronicle. Maria lives in downtown Santa Cruz with her husband and daughter. When she is not at the computer, she can usually be found doing laundry, the volume of which seems entirely out of proportion for a family of three.
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