How To Repair A Rocking Chair

I honey rejuvenating one-time article of furniture and giving tips on how to do so.

The Bamboo Chair

The restored and rejuvenated bamboo rocker.

Photo by S. McLeish

Repairing and Restoring Bamboo Furniture

Bamboo furniture is a versatile look for contemporary or traditional décor, indoors or out. Just like all of your article of furniture, bamboo requires care on a regular basis. Information technology can be harmed past the dry out estrus of indoors or by Female parent Nature outside. Keeping upward with preventative measures, still, is much easier than having to practise a total overall repair job.

I found a beautiful bamboo rocker at an antiquarian sale. Equally you lot tin can see from the photo below, the chair was in rough shape. But underneath all of the dust and dirt was a gem just waiting to shine. I wanted to utilise the rocker on my screened-in porch. There was a big crack in the top, varnish missing from some of the rungs, and I had to have the rockers sanded a bit to reshape. This projection took me a weekend due to the dry times needed in betwixt coats of varnish.

The instructions that follow will guide yous through every pace of a total restoration, including repairs of cracks. At the very end of this article is a list of things you tin can do to prevent having to do a full renovation for bamboo furniture.

The bamboo rocker waiting to be repaired.

How to Clean the Bamboo

Here are the materials you'll demand for cleaning:

• Toothbrush (or bristled brush)
• Small-scale pail with hot water
• Sponge
• Shop vac/vacuum

Remove any dirt or debris with a sponge dipped in hot water. Brand certain you lot wring the sponge out enough that information technology will not soak the bamboo.

Notation: If there is no varnish or terminate of any kind on the chair, be careful when doing this pace. Water will begin to warp the bamboo if information technology is left for likewise long. If this does happen, just bring the chair into a dry out area, wipe down with an old towel, and place a fan in forepart of it.

You tin can use an erstwhile toothbrush or any kind of soft-bristled brush to remove the dirt and dust from the crevasses, so vacuum with a small shop vac that has a brush zipper.

Ready for sanding.

Photo by S. McLeish

How to Prep the Chair

For the preparation procedure, you'll need these materials:

• Tarp
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• Fine sandpaper
• Steel wool
• Tack cloth

Begin to prep the chair by using medium-grit sandpaper. Sanding will remove the finish and some of the light scratches that may be in the bamboo. If there are heavy scrapes or gouges in the bamboo, you may want to consider replacing the whole piece.

I personally similar the look of worn bamboo, so I did not replace whatever of the poles. I simply made certain they were well sanded, had no crude spots, and felt smooth to the touch.

Gyre to Proceed

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Follow up this sanding with ane more overall sanding with fine sandpaper. Finish off by using a tack textile to remove loose particles from the chair that may make your start coat of varnish experience and await bumpy.

A crevice in need of repair.

How to Repair the Chair

For the repair procedure, y'all'll need these materials:

• Wood
• Glue
• Toothpicks
• Wax paper
• Tie wraps (multi-sized)
• Wood putty
• Needle olfactory organ pliers
• Woods screws (if chair has them)
• Clammy rag

Depending on how the chair is built, it can be like shooting fish in a barrel to slide the bamboo poles out of place and replace them completely with a new piece. In the case of this rocking chair, information technology was not as piece of cake as it looked.

How to Repair the Bamboo Poles

I chose to repair the bamboo poles as needed. To practice this, I used strong forest mucilage, toothpicks, waxed paper, and tie wraps of assorted sizes.

1. Where a pole was croaky, I loosely set on two or three tie wraps onto the pole.
2. Then, using a toothpick, I applied the glue to the crack, wiped off whatsoever excess glue, so placed a piece of waxed paper around the pole.
3. I and so slid the tie wrap into place and tightened information technology enough to close the fissure, simply not hard enough to get out an indent in the bamboo pole.

How to Tighten the Pegs, Screws, or Nails

I had bamboo pegs that were holding the chair together instead of screws or nails. I fabricated sure they were all tightly in place. If the pegs were loose, I removed the peg using modest needle-nose pliers, placed mucilage into the peg hole, and and so gently tapped the peg back in place with a small tack hammer. I then wiped off any backlog gum from the peg hole with a damp rag.

If your chair has screws or nails, tighten upwards the screws and check that the nails are well prepare into the bamboo poles. If the screws will non take hold of, replace them with the side by side size up screw (width not length).

You demand to be able to accept the screw grab onto the bamboo without splitting the pole or going all the mode through to the opposite side. If the nails will not set in well, you lot can place a bit of gum into the nail pigsty, tap in the nail, wipe off excess glue, and use a tie wrap to hold the pole while the glue is setting.

Shut-up of the chair after varnish and wax.

Photograph by South. McLeish

How to Finish the Chair

Once fully repaired and all touch-upwards sanding has been done, I protected the exposed bamboo with varnish. I chose to use Helmsman gunkhole varnish due to its water-protecting properties.

I applied three coats of varnish with a light steel wool sanding in betwixt. The varnish takes at least six hours to set up before you can sand and varnish once more. Do non blitz this footstep. This is what will protect the bamboo from the elements.

I too applied a coat of piece of furniture paste wax as an additional layer of protection. But you accept to make certain that the varnish has completely cured before applying the wax. If the varnish has not hardened, you will need to sand all over again and brainstorm the sealing procedure as explained above.

How to Avert a Total Makeover: Preservation and Cleaning

• Dust your bamboo article of furniture regularly with a dusting fabric. Make sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies. This will help to prevent dust and dirt from settling into the arms, legs, or any of the joints in the furniture.
• Fill a cleaning saucepan with warm h2o. Soak a rag in the mild, soapy water. Completely wring out the rag so that the rag is just damp and not moisture. Clean the bamboo. And so utilize a different rag dipped in warm water to rinse off the bamboo. Permit the piece of furniture to air dry.
• Apply a furniture wax that is made for bamboo on a monthly basis. Linseed oil can be used if you can non detect a piece of furniture wax for bamboo. This will keep the bamboo protected from drying due to oestrus, foreclose cracking, and go on the flexibility in the bamboo.
• Do not sit on wet bamboo furniture. This will bend, warp, and even cleft the bamboo.

This article is authentic and truthful to the all-time of the author'southward knowledge. Content is for informational or amusement purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business organisation, financial, legal, or technical matters.

© 2022 Susan McLeish

Dennis on May 25, 2022:

I have the exact chair y'all have.Found mine in a burn pile. Are they worth anything?

Preston and Kate from the Midwest on May 02, 2022:

Thanks for sharing some useful data! I've never refinished bamboo before.

Claudia Mitchell on May 02, 2022:

Really dainty article. I don't have any bamboo furniture, but this was interesting withal. Makes me want to go out and discover some!

Susan McLeish (author) from Rindge, NH on March 31, 2022:

Gradn old lady,

I used glue as a last resort in repairing this vintage rocker. I did some research on using this method and institute that if the chair was not going to exist used daily, it can work. I put the rocker abroad nightly to keep it out of the weather condition and condition it often to make certain no farther splitting will occur. Glad you enjoyed the article.

Mona Sabalones Gonzalez from Philippines on March 29, 2022:

Very helpful article. Never knew that holes in bamboo could be filled with strong wood mucilage.

Susan McLeish (author) from Rindge, NH on March 29, 2022:

Thanks janderson99 for that tip. I am always up for unlike ideas on refinishing slap-up furniture. I choose marine varnish due to the atmospheric condition in the northeast. This chair will be past the bounding main at times. The table salt air does damage to everything.

Dr. John Anderson from Australia on Planet Water on March 29, 2022:

Great article. I have repaired a bamboo lounge using similar methods. I chose to use high quality furniture oil as a terminate rather than vanish as the oil penetrates into the bamboo and keeps it subtle. This ways that you tin oil it in one case once again if it dries out. Just a suggestion worth considering. Cheers and Thanks!

Source: https://dengarden.com/cleaning/Rejuvinate-Repair-a-Bamboo-Rocking-Chair

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