If you have some old outdoor wood furniture that has seen better days, but you still love it, then you might want to refinish your furniture before you chop it up for firewood. The truth is that no matter how old or beat up your outdoor wood furniture is, you can probably restore it so that it looks almost brand new. By refinishing, you will be able to save money and you will have some of your time invested into your patio deck. That way you will be able to point out to everyone how much your care about your patio furniture.
There are a couple of steps to go through to refinish your patio furniture. None of the steps are particularly difficult, just a bit time consuming. But if you have the time, there is nothing quite like refinishing your furniture to make it really feel like yours.
The first thing you need to do is carefully clean the piece of furniture you are going to refinish. And if you can do this without using soap, you are better off. No matter how much you rinse the chair or chaise after you wash it with soap, there is still going to be some soapy residue on it that might be a problem for the stain to absorb evenly. You are way better off doing this by hand with a garden hose. If you use a pressure washer, you run the risk of driving the water so far into the wood structure that it will take weeks to dry out.
If you live in the southwest where it is always dry and sunny, this would be OK, Anywhere else, and you will be spending your entire patio season waiting for the furniture to dry. Even though soap is not advised, you could try something like a good deck cleaner if your stuff is really grimy. Deck cleaner rinses off clean and will leave your patio furniture looking bright and shiny. And if you use that, you won’t have to be researching around the internet looking for patio furniture clearance sales.
Next you need to take light grit sandpaper (180 grit), and sand down the entire piece. Keep at it until all the old stain is gone. You then need to get an even finer sandpaper, like a 220 grit, and finish sand the piece. This way you will get a much more consistent color and stain throughout.
Now its time for the stain. It is easier to get a wood stain about the same color as the old stain, but it is not absolutely necessary. It is a lot harder to get the furniture to accept a lighter color stain than the one you started with. So if that is what you want, then you will need to do a lot of sanding in order for the new lighter stain to look good.
A lot of people like gel stains, but I personally prefer a really light body stain like Minwax. But the decision is up to you. The reason I like the lighter body stains is because I am used to working with them, no other reason. As long as you buy a good quality stain product, you shouldn’t have much of a problem either way.
Apply the stain with a cotton rag. You will get your fingers stained as well, but the coverage is much better than with a brush. And you get the benefit of looking like you know what you are doing when your buddies come by. Let this set and dry. And when you are sure it’s good and dry, apply the weatherseal or polyurethane. Once this is done you are ready to enjoy your furniture for many years without needing to refinish it again.
Author Resource:
Michael is an avid internet researcher and writer. He especially enjoys relaxing on his patio furniture in the evening with his wife.
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