painting wicker furniture

[budro]

help. my employer wants me to paint his wicker furniture at his condo. we have brought it back to the shop where we can attack it any way we please. it is sealed with a natural finish. he wants to paint it black. will new paint stay on the furniture if i don't remove the old sealer? if i need to remove the old sealer, how best to do that? will new paint not stick as good if i just paint over the old sealer? this old sealer seems to be in good shape as it is shiny and looks good. the furniture is interior type and will not be subjected to the weather. i have done a little bit of furniture refinishing on solid wood but never wicker. any advice will be appreciated. thanks, budro

 

[MelonieNY]

I'm no expert, but here's what my grandma would tell you ...

- carefully clean off anything 'loose' re your old sealer with a soft brush

- apply new oil based wood primer over any areas that the old sealer has flaked off

- spray a new layer of oil based wood primer over the top of the existing sealer and touch-up primer

- spray two coats of oil-based exterior / interior semi-gloss paint


According to grandma, a unique problem with wicker furniture is the extreme porosity of the 'wood'. Thus it's essential that a complete layer of sealing primer is in place, or the wicker will soak up paint like a sponge.

The second unique problem with wicker furniture is flexing every time it it 'used'. Regular latex paints cannot handle the flexing as well as oil-based, thus will have a tendency to crack and flake off. However, since grandma's days, 100% acrylic paints have become available that, in theory, may be able to handle the increased amount of flexing as well as oil-based.

PS for the same reason of flexing, it's best to not move or 'use' repainted wicker furniture for several days so that the new paint will have the opportunity to completely 'cure'.

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