Revive Old Dining Chairs

The good news is that it is easy to give your dining chairs that boost they need, making them look as good as new and enabling you to show them off in your dining room with pride.

It doesn’t matter what type of wood your dining chairs are made of, over time they will start to wear. You can’t expect a dining chair placed near the wall to not get scuffed from time to time, remember it is not the wood that is damaged, but rather the varnish that has been scuffed. You may find some chips, scratches or deeper chips in your pieces, requiring some TLC and elbow grease to get them back to a new condition.

Before you start your repair process, it’s important you clean each piece thoroughly and move it to a well-lit area. This will help you pinpoint the problem areas that require your attention.

With the items cleaned you can start repairs, they don’t take long and you will need some wax, clear nail polish and a marker pen in the right color. You will also need sandpaper and some varnish, with a paint brush.

The first repair you should look for is any chips to the dining chairs. Small chips, which are not deep are really easy to repair and you can fix them in a short period of time. For this you will need some clear nail polish, sandpaper and wax.

With your clean chair in front of you, apply the clear nail polish to the chip and leave to dry. Once it has dried in place, filling the gap you can sandpaper it down to the right level and smooth it off. Use the right color wax over the area.

Once you’ve repaired the visible chips, you may want to look for any scratches and any worn edges. Both of these are easily repaired using a marker pen in the right color. Take your marker and go over the scratches and worn edges, ensuring you only color in the problem areas. Once completed wipe the marked areas and leave to dry.

In some cases you may find a very deep chip which has found its way onto the leg of one of your dining chairs. This is not only frustrating, but can ruin the beauty of the item. Luckily these are not too difficult to repair and will require you sanding down the tip until the entire area is even, go over it with a lighter sandpaper to smooth it down and then add wax, matching the chair, wiping it away and allowing it to dry.

When you start your process, you will want to remove the seats of all the dining chairs and clean them. Once all the repairs are complete and dried, you can sand down the entire chair removing old varnish. When you have finished sanding, wipe with dry cloth to remove residue and then varnish in your chosen color.

Remember varnish does take time to dry, so you will need to place the items where they will not be used. Don’t rely on outside, especially if there is a chance of rain or the wind is blowing, as debris can damage your varnish finish.