How To Refinish Your Own Metal Glider And Vintage Metal Patio Furniture
Ready to sweat? Roll your sleeves up.....In this page we will go over how you can do an at home or DIY old metal glider refinishing restoration project yourself.It will take take time and work to to it right!
First of all our process is a little more industrialized.We put the gliders in vat full of chemicals and they are peeled that way 70%.After that they are taken out and sandblasted carefully within every nook and cranny down to the bare metal.
Once all the old paint is removed from the vintage metal glider furniture we start off with a powdercoat primer.
Powdercoat is a baked on enamel pigment that is used on items expected to sit outside(ie,playground equipment,patio furniture,etc)
The vintage metal gliders are placed in an oven and the powdercoat pigment is baked on.Once that process is complete it is powdered with the actual powdercoat finish color and it then goes back into the powdercoat oven.Once out the old metal glider is sprayed multiple times with clearcoat for added shine and durability.We also replace the hardware in our restorations.
We understand the average homeowner does not own this type of industrial set up and we have had many inquiries of people wanting information on how they can restore their own vintage metal porch gliders and chairs themselves.
First gather your materials.We are huge "green" advocates so all the products we recommend are not harmful to the earth in any way.You will need:
Sandpaper(variety of grits)
Metal Wire Brush
Small Paint Brush
Lead Paint Stripper(non-toxic)
Dura-Soy Non-toxic Paint Which Works Great On Metal!
Replacement Feet
Replacement Metal Hangers
Foam Roller
Glass Of Lemonade
First grab your sandpaper.This will be the most lengthy of the steps! From highest grit to lowest you will need to put some elbow grease in and get off as much of the old paint as possible.This may take a few days to a few hours depending on how many layers of added paint your old metal vintage furniture has.
After you have satisifed this step you can move on to the wire brush.Flake off large chunks of paint with the wire brush.The last step involves the recommended lead paint stripper.Because these old metal gliders are so old alot of them do have lead paint on them that will need to be removed safely.
Follow the recommended directions exactly on the paint stripper.After that process is complete you can move on the fun stuff and choose your paint color!
So far the best and most safe paint for DIY that we have found is the Dura-Soy Non-toxic Paint.Its also low odor! Most important thing to remember when painting is to take your time.Use the foam roller slowly.Apply thin coats at a time and build up to the covering you would like.Putting to much paint on the paint roller will cause drips and runs.
After 2-3 paint applications(waiting 2-3 hours between each coat) you can go buy a can of rustoleum clearcoat.Spray all over.This will help inhibit rust from coming back so quickly.Especially spray in your creases.Now you can replace your porch glider hardware and voila! Sit back and enjoy your glass of lemonade!
Remember for maintenance its best to clearcoat your newly made over pieces atleast twice a year! Also,if your porch glider will receive weather at differwnt intervals during the season you may want to purchase a cover.