Wooden furniture has been around for thousands of years; it has always been popular, mainly because wood is easy to work with. It lasts a long time and it almost always looks great. If you have an old wooden chair, you know how nice the design can be. In fact, many people feel as though antique chairs outmatch anything being produced today. Although, Wood has a few vulnerabilities. Since wood is an organic material, it tends to break down in the presence of heat and moisture. It takes a very long time, but wood does decay. That’s why wooden furniture is usually painted and finished. If you have an old chair, you might notice that it’s not quite as nice as it used to be. You probably just need to resurface and stain your wooden chair to return it to its former glory. It’s a fairly simple process that only takes a few steps.
Preparing to Work
Before you actually get to work, you need to get everything in its proper place. Chefs call this organizational concept “mise en place.” It means that you need to have everything where it is supposed to be so that you can work quickly and efficiently.
You need to put down a drop cloth or a tarp underneath the chair; something that you don’t mind getting stained. A painter’s drop cloth should suffice. You need your chair, a couple grits of sandpaper, a tack cloth, clean shop rags, a paint stripper, a paint scraper, mineral spirits, some stain, and a stain pad. Once you have all of that situated around your workstation, you’re ready to get started.
Strip the Chair
First, you need to strip the old stain and/or paint from the chair. If you’re only refurbishing the one chair, you should probably use an aerosol paint stripper. It is easy to apply evenly, and it does not drip. If you have several chairs to do, you might want to go with a normal paint stripper. It’s going to be much more affordable to buy in bulk, even though it might be a little messier. Apply the paint stripper. After a few minutes, you should start to see the old paint/stain coming off. Use your paint scraper to scrape off the excess paint. You might have to do this a few times to complete the entire chair.
Next, you should apply the mineral spirits to clean off the last bits of paint stripper and paint. Your chair needs to be completely dry before you move to the next step.
Sand the Chair
If the wood of the chair is still in good shape, you just need a fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface. If the chair has noticeable nicks and scratches, you might actually need to do some work. If you need to dramatically change the surface, you should start with a coarse grit sandpaper and gradually move up to a very fine sandpaper. Once you have the surface of the wood as smooth as you would like it to be, wipe away all excess sawdust with a tack cloth.
Finish the Chair
Lastly, you should use a stain pad to apply the actual stain. Use long, even strokes that move with the grain. You might need several coats to find the deep, rich color you prefer. Let it dry, and then apply a clear coat in the same fashion. Once the clear coat dries, you essentially have a brand new chair!
