Wicker Furniture is made from woven material such as rattan, reed, willow, and etc. It is appropriate to keep inside the room as its material comes from natural material that does not have weather resistant and fungi resistant. But, who knows that someone will violate the rule of where should it be kept in order to comply the needs of the use of furniture. Perhaps somebody prefer to keep the rattan wicker furniture outside the room like in their porch as a place to spend their time. Although we have known that a few of rattan wicker furniture also made from synthetic rattan that has more weather and fungi resistant.
However, many people or buyer from foreign countries prefer to choose wicker furniture that made from natural and pure rattan material. Now, you don’t have to worry anymore if you want to keep your rattan wicker furniture outside the room because it has been protected by anti-fungi liquid.
So, how about the weather, especially the sunlight pressure that will make the color of rattan wicker furniture fades rapidly? As what I have been said in the previous article, there is a way to this problem. It is repainting your wicker furniture. What are the steps and the needs to repaint rattan wicker furniture? Here we go!
What you need are:
• Drop cloth
• Mild detergent
• Water
• Bristle brush
• Safety goggles
• Gloves
• Face mask
• Paint stripper
• Paint brushes
• Light-grit sandpaper
• Vacuum cleaner
• Wood primer
• Compressor sprayer or spray can
• Oil-based or latex indoor/outdoor paint
Let’s get started! Here are the steps:
1. Set up your work area. When you paint a wicker chair, select an area that is well ventilated to protect you from paint fumes and set the chair on a drop cloth to protect your floor from paint.
2. Remove old flaky paint. This step aims to make the new paint sticks to the wicker furniture. So, you need to strip the old paint. Other than that, follow this more detail steps:
• Clean your wicker furniture with a mild detergent, water and a bristle brush.
• Put on safety equipment, such as goggles, gloves and a face mask before you refinish wicker furniture. Paint and stripper may contain chemicals that can cause skin rashes, and paint chips may get in your eyes or lungs, creating health problems.
• Apply paint stripper to the wicker furniture with a brush if paint chips still remain after you have washed the chair. When you refinish wicker furniture, be sure to follow the paint stripper manufacturer’s instructions.
• Let the stripper stay on the furniture the correct amount of time so that it will liquefy the old paint. Remove the stripper with a wire brush.
3. Let the wicker furniture dry for 24 to 48 hours, and then sand it with light-grit sandpaper, concentrating on smoothing the rough edges.
4. Vacuum the sanded wicker chair to remove dust.
5. Apply primer. Use a compressor sprayer, spray paint or a brush to paint on wood primer. Let it dry for 8 hours. Turn the furniture over and apply another coat of primer to the furniture.
6. Dry the chair for 24 hours.
7. Paint on the finish. Use oil-base indoor/outdoor or latex paint on your wicker furniture. Oil base paint sticks to wicker, lasts a long time, provides good coverage, and flexes with the furniture. Latex paint is made with water and plastic resins, and is easier to work with because it dries faster than oil base paint and you can clean brushes with water instead of paint thinner.
8. Let the wicker furniture dry for 7 days before you sit in it.