NewsletterJune 7, 2003

Our Online picture catalog is expanding every few days, hopefully we'll hit on some of those unusual items that can't be found anywhere locally, as well as the mundane everyday things that are so much easier to buy on-line.

We're working on a teak furniture section of the catalog, which will have around 75 items of teak furniture and teak related products.

One of the benefits of teak is that it's classy enough to use inside and durable enough to use outside.

The teak section will be in addition to our patio furniture section.

Curious about something?

If you have a question about a project you're working on or just a general interest question about furniture, wood or anything else we cover on the web site you can use either of these links My Question or Feedback. Both links come to the same place and are read by the same person, me. I answer as many as I can in the time that I have and I put a few in the newsletter. Your full name and/or email address will never appear in the newsletter when we use your question.

Both of those links are spam gleaner protected, but they got my email addresses before I protected them, so I get quite a bit of spam. I use Popfile to weed out the spam.

Popfile is free at the above link for anyone who would like to have it. It's pretty simple to set up and train too.

It's Bayesian based and gets smarter as it ages. Mine is about 99.47% accurate now, just putting an occasional spam in the 'in' box and will very rarely put a good email in the spam file. It takes me about 5 minutes to scan the spam file to be sure I'm not missing a question from someone, where it used to take over an hour to weed out the spam.

Black feet on patio furniture

If the feet or lower legs of your wood patio furniture has turned black from sitting in water you can quite often bleach out the black with a 10% bleach solution. Mix 1 part of household bleach to 9 parts of water in a spray bottle and spray the black parts. You can mix it in a bowl and brush it on too.

After you let the legs dry you can seal them with something like Chinawood deck oil or another clear sealing product from our web catalog page Clear finishes and if they're painted you can repaint after the sealer dries. If the rest of the piece is ok you can just paint up the same distance on each leg and paint a trim line so you don't need to paint the whole piece.

Paper Wicker

email question. . . . .

I have three pieces of "wicker" furniture . My guess is that they are about 1930s. But it appears to be made from paper that is tightly twisted. At present it is painted white and sorely in need of a paint job. The pieces have a number of coats of paint on them. Where it has chipped off I can see the "paper wicker" and that the original color was natural with some detail woven in black. There are cushions on each made with interior springs. They also are in need of repair. The three pieces consist of a couch, a rocker and a chair, all matching. The coats of paint on all three are all very badly chipped and probably need to be stripped.

My questions are ....can this type of "paper wicker" be stripped and repainted in the same manner as real wicker. Can you date it.....can you give me anyother suggestons? I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Peter

reply. . . . .

Hi

Yes no and somewhere in between.

Your furniture is wicker in the true sense of the word, because wicker is the method, rather than the material, but not wicker as wicker is commonly thought of, as being a natural plant material. Most wicker is made from the rattan palm.

Your wicker is apparently made from twisted kraft paper with a wire core. The twisted kraft came into being toward the end of the 1800's and quite a bit of wicker furniture was made with it after the turn of the century into the 1900's.

I don't think there is much use of twisted kraft in wicker work any more, but it is common in Danish Modern woven chair seats and stools, as well as other rush applications. The material of that type used to be made mainly from twisted cattail leaves, but kraft paper is cheaper and easier to make. The twisted cattail and some other similar material is known as natural rush and the twisted kraft paper is fiber rush.

You can't strip the paper wicker, because the kraft paper would soak up the stripper and probably turn to mush and would probably disintegrate, but you can repaint it.

I would build up the chipped places with primer paint or if they're large deep chips thin some wood filler and paint several layers into the chips, be sure to let each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next.

After the paper wicker is covered and protected you can proceed with the surface preparation. A light sanding is always required before painting over an already painted surface, but it's totally impossible to sand effectively. Liquid deglosser will take care of pre-painting preparation and cleaning. Apply it with a brush and it will get into all the inaccessible places.

The easiest way to paint wicker is with spray cans, you can get into all the nooks and crannies easier. Latex spray paint is good as it's flexible and will resist cracking.

You might check with a local antique dealer for an approximate value of your furniture. I would imagine that the paper wicker antiques aren't too plentiful, although they were manufactured prolifically during the first part of the 20th century.

Quick tip

If you have an extension dining room table that is sticking and hard to pull open, check underneath and see what type of extensions it has. If it has metal extensions, extend the the table all the way open and spray the extensions with a silicone spray (be very careful to not get any on the finish). If the extension is wood extend it all the way and apply bar soap or paraffin wax to all the parts that touch each other and slide. It's easiest to turn the table upside down, but if you can't turn it you'll have to work with you upside down. Spread newspapers or plastic sheeting on the floor to protect it.

More about color - Purple

Purple is a regal color. In the days of yore it was reserved for royalty only.

Purple will create a mood of mystery, while at the same time adding a feeling of comfort.

While light purples can be used considerably it's best to limit darker purples to accent pieces. A piece of furniture painted in a medium to dark purple and trimmed in gold will add a touch of elegance to a room.

Purple will increase a feeling of romance.

More furniture woods

Cherry

Cherry is a popular wood for better furniture. It's kind of expensive so cherry veneer is used a lot to keep cost down and the grain pattern in veneer is by far prettier than you can normally get in solid wood.

Way back when the bark of the cherry tree was used to make bronchitis medicine.

Cherry has a straight grain and varies in color from a creamy white to redish brown and a very pleasant red.

Cherry is easy to work with and will take a nice finish. Staining is generally necessary to even out the color.

Redwood

These are the big ones. Redwoods have been known to grow over 350 feet tall and over 24 feet in diameter. There are slabs in existence that show that redwoods have lived to be over 2000 years old.

Redwood is used mainly for outdoor applications, such as decks, sidings and furniture.

Redwood will vary in color from a light tan color through various shades of red.

Redwood is very durable in outdoor applications. You need to be careful when you buy 'redwood items', lots of it is made of other woods and stained a sickly red color. If the color doesn't look good the item probably isn't true redwood.

Ash

Ash is a versitile wood and is used for furniture, almost any application in a home, skis and other sports equipment.

Ash will vary in color from almost white through light brown and yellowish. The grain is coarse, but will finish nicely, similar to oak.

Antique ice box

email question. . . . .

Hello,

I'm working on an early 1900's ice box which was painted both inside and out. The interior is some type of tin or galvanized metal. After stripping the metal clean, should I just leave it alone or clearcoat it with some type of product. The interior of the doors are metal also.

Thank You,

Chuck

Reply . . . . .

The metal could be either tin or galvanized and it could possibly be zinc too. Zinc was used quite a bit way back when. Since it's on the inside of an ice box it's probably something that shouldn't rust, but I think I'd take an extra few minutes to put a clear coat on it.

My choice would be shellac, it protects well, was a common product on antiques and is easy to use and sticks to almost anything.

You can get shellac flakes to make your own to insure freshness and good drying. Another good product is Zinsser Bullseye Seal Coat. This is shellac made with a patented process that keeps it workable for about three years. Shellac in general starts to deteriorate around a year after it's dissolved and won't dry as well, so lots of the stuff you buy off the shelf is near the end of its usable life. That's just it's dissolved liquid state, when it's used as a clear coat and has dried it's good for several hundred years.

There is some ice box hardware available if you need some.

Humid weather and furniture

Our daughter just returned from a three day visit to Palm Springs, Florida, a reward for exceptional work at her job. She had a fantastic time and was awed by the beauty of Florida.

She grew up in the heart of the Columbia Basin in the center of Washington state, so she's used to the near desert conditions that we have. Some areas are still desert, but some are irrigated by water from the extensive canal system of the Columbia Basin Irrigation project.

Anyway, to shorten a story that's getting windy, she said that the air in the area of Florida where she was is so humid you can almost wring water out of it.

Naturally, since I'm furniture oriented the thought went through my mind that there must be a lot of problems with furniture joints. In a humid area (above the comfort zone on a hygrometer) wood will expand a considerable amount and can put a lot of pressure on joints. A dehumidifier would give your furniture a lot of comfort and could extend it's trouble free life if you live in a humid area.

On the other end of the stick, if you live in an arrid area (below the comfort zone on a hygrometer), the joints on your furniture could suffer in the opposite direction. Dryness can cause a considerable shrinkage of wood. Your furniture would enjoy benefit from a humidifier.

One nice thing about furniture is that it likes to share, when it's comfortable it shares the comfort with you.

Quick Tip

When paper gets into something it shouldn't on a finished surface and sticks, it can generally be removed by dabbing vegetable oil on it and letting it sit for a while, then rub with a soft cloth. If it only removes a small amount keep applying and rubbing until it's all removed.