How to strip, restore & paint antique cane wicker lounge and arm chairs for outdoor use?

[victoriacalhoun]

Hi, I have these gorgeous antique cane / wicker arm chairs and lounge made by the WA Blind Society many, many years ago that I need to restore & paint for outdoor use.  The craftsmanship is amazing! Unfortunately they have been in my AirBnB and not stored under the gazebo, but in the full weather on the deck. I have only just been able to retrieve them without disturbing tenants and they need some love.  I will still keep them outside, but under cover, but would be grateful for suggestions on how to keep them looking as fabulous as they deserve.

 Questions:-

• Should I definitely paint?  Because they will be subject to weather I am thinking painting is the best option. I will be using a HVLP spray gun.
• I am not sure what they are coated / varnished with, perhaps Shellac or some kind of polyurethane. Best way to remove this to prepare a surface for painting?

Thanks very much.

[JacobZ]

Hi @victoriacalhoun,

Thank you for your question on how to restore your cane outdoor furniture.

I'd suggest painting is probably the best way to go here. 

Revarnishing would require you to remove all of the existing coating to allow the new varnish to penetrate the timber.

It would be extremely difficult to sand the furniture back without damaging the woven cane, so for this reason, I'd avoid it. A paint stripper would certainly help to remove the existing coating but would require a massive amount of work to effectively remove everything.

To paint over the existing coating, you would need to thoroughly clean the furniture using hot water, sugar soap and a soft cloth, before applying a coat of primer. 

You will have to order PRECISION® Maximum Strength Adhesion Primer through your local Special Orders desk as it is the only primer that I'm aware of that would be suitable over existing varnish.

Once your coat of primer is applied, allow it to dry before applying 2-3 coats of your chosen external paint, letting each coat dry before applying the next.

Allow me to tag some of our helpful members to hear their thoughts, @Dave-1, @EdwardJ, @diy_hausdesigns, @Renowayoflife.

This looks like it's going to be a very exciting restoration project. I can't wait to see how it all goes. Please keep us updated as your project gets underway.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @victoriacalhoun 

Now thats a very stylish lounge set. 

I would avoid painting until a last resort as the natural colouring looks way to nice to change. Tho if painting is it then I like your idea of spray painting.

Id potentially say that they would have had a shellac coating to start with just by the style they are. So two ideas of going forward are

1 - Brush with a hardish brissle brush (the bathroom or dish scrubbers is what I mean) any flacky shellac and then shellac them all again, knowing that you may have some areas lift due to the original layer still coming away.

2 - Brush with that same hardish bristle brush all the surfaces you can get to, then oil the cane with timber oil. Id suggest to try this on the underside of the seat first to see if it works. or the bottom part of a rearward facing leg. I am hoping that loose shllac with go leaving a surface that can absorb oil, then over time (every few months) revist, brush again and apply oil to the new patches. The oil may even cause the shellac to lift over time.

Not 100% sure either way will work. Id still leave painting as a last resort.

Dave