Steps And Items Needed To Care For Rush Seat Chairs
The well-used chair seat tends to lose luster over time and the conventional solution is to refinish it. You can't refinish your seat which is made from the woven rush, in the same manner, you refinish a wooden seat, nevertheless, the rush damages very easily. It may unfurl or stretch if you get it wet or you use paint stripper on it. The old finish is occasionally either shellac or linseed oil, however, and both of these finishes will accept a new coat without the need for removal. A good cleaning of your old finish is in order if you are not going to stripping it. You need to gather the required items and follow the steps to take care of your rush seat chairs:
Things Needed For This Process
- Painters Masking Tape
- Rags & Denatured Alcohol
- Shellac Flakes
- Boiled Linseed Oil
- Paint Thinner
- Paintbrush
Steps For This Process
- First of all, you need to cover all the wood surrounding your seat, including the lower portion of your chair back, with the help of masking tape. You need to use a painter's masking tape, which is blue. You can easily pull it off without disturbing the finish on your wood.
- Now you need to rub your seat with the help of a rag dampened with the denatured alcohol. If your seat is coated with shellac, the denatured alcohol emulsifies it & allows you to wipe off your surface layer and it won't emulsify linseed oil but it will remove the grime.
- Next you need to wipe your seat with the help of a dry rag as soon as you are finished rubbing it with the denatured alcohol. You need to inspect your rag, and if it is dirty then you need to wipe your seat again with alcohol. Continue alternating the rags until your dry rag is clean after you wipe your chair.
- Then you need to inspect your seat to determine what kind of finish material you need to use. When your rush has lightened noticeably, it is apparently finished with shellac & you should use the shellac to refinish it. When there isn't much change in your color, the finish is apparently linseed oil & that's what you should use to recoat it.
- You need to make a shellac solution by dissolving 1/4 cup of orange shellac flakes, which is easily available at paint & hardware stores, in 1 cup of the denatured alcohol. In order to apply an oil finish you just need to mix 1/4 cup of boiled linseed oil with 1 cup of your paint thinner.
- After that, you need to spread one coat of shellac with the help of a paintbrush and then let it dry, which will take about 20 minutes, then you need to spread a second coat. When you are going to apply linseed oil then you need to wipe on several thin coats with your rag. You need to rub the extra off with your clean rag after each coat & then you need to wait for the oil to dry before applying your next coat.
- Finally, you need to peel the tape off your chair carefully after you're done spreading the finish and let your chair sit for 24 hours before you use it again.
Tips & Warnings
- Be sure to cover your floor with a drop cloth or several layers of newspaper. Some finish material may drip through with the weaving.
- Another way to identify the finish is to identify the rush material. If it's twisted paper, it apparently has a shellac finish. If your rush is made of leaves, however, it apparently has a linseed oil finish.