Rattan Refinishing Question - Tiki Carving

P PolynesianPop Tiki Socialite Corona, Ca Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2371	P PolynesianPop Posted posted on Sun, Mar 6, 2005 8:25 AM Spy, I haven't moved forward on my rattan resto as of yet. The rains have kept me doing anything since they always seem to fall on the weekends. However, I can answer a few of your questions. What is a scrubbie sponge? Is it something special for refinishing or what? You know those yellow sponges with the green "rough" back to them? You can buy these as just the green "rough" portion. I think thats the kind of sponge being mentioned. You can also buy refinishing brushes at Home Depot in the stain/finishing supplies section. After using CITRUSTRIP I'd rather not haul the stuff to a car wash in my Miata...I'll get goo all over the car. how much success will I have with my hose and a good nozzle at home? Or should I really find a way to get stuff to the car wash? Are there cheap pressure washer kind of things out there that would work well? I wondered the same thing. And hopefully next weekend, I'll get a chance to give it a try and find out. What is the concencus on finishes? Is the boiled linseed oil the favorite? How do various finishes hold up? Sorry if this is stupid, but do I have to boil the linseed oil or does it just come that way? I've used Polyshades many times on other pieces of furniture before and I think thats the way I'm going to go with my resto. Never used boiled linseed oil and because of that, don't want to "experiment" with it with this set. And no, boiled linseed oil is not boiled - it is simply treated to dry faster (yes it comes that way). One last question. That wrapping stuff. I know you have to soak it for a day or two. Are there any tricks to getting it to hold on well and look good? I've been told that generally, anyway you can get it to stay is acceptable as long as it looks good since its cosmetic and not structural. I stripped all the old binding off of my resto project and plan to rewrap it all. If the natural binding gives me problems, I'm willing to try using a vinyl substitute. I think the biggest challenge for me will be figuring out the wrapping pattern. Here is a link to the resto project I'm working on. There's some good info there that may be of use to you. Good luck and post pics of the progress! My rattan score and resto project.

Spy,
I haven't moved forward on my rattan resto as of yet. The rains have kept me doing anything since they always seem to fall on the weekends. However, I can answer a few of your questions.

*What is a scrubbie sponge? Is it something special for refinishing or what? *

You know those yellow sponges with the green "rough" back to them? You can buy these as just the green "rough" portion. I think thats the kind of sponge being mentioned. You can also buy refinishing brushes at Home Depot in the stain/finishing supplies section.

After using CITRUSTRIP I'd rather not haul the stuff to a car wash in my Miata...I'll get goo all over the car. how much success will I have with my hose and a good nozzle at home? Or should I really find a way to get stuff to the car wash? Are there cheap pressure washer kind of things out there that would work well?

I wondered the same thing. And hopefully next weekend, I'll get a chance to give it a try and find out.

What is the concencus on finishes? Is the boiled linseed oil the favorite? How do various finishes hold up? Sorry if this is stupid, but do I have to boil the linseed oil or does it just come that way?

I've used Polyshades many times on other pieces of furniture before and I think thats the way I'm going to go with my resto. Never used boiled linseed oil and because of that, don't want to "experiment" with it with this set. And no, boiled linseed oil is not boiled - it is simply treated to dry faster (yes it comes that way).

One last question. That wrapping stuff. I know you have to soak it for a day or two. Are there any tricks to getting it to hold on well and look good?

I've been told that generally, anyway you can get it to stay is acceptable as long as it looks good since its cosmetic and not structural. I stripped all the old binding off of my resto project and plan to rewrap it all. If the natural binding gives me problems, I'm willing to try using a vinyl substitute. I think the biggest challenge for me will be figuring out the wrapping pattern.

Here is a link to the resto project I'm working on. There's some good info there that may be of use to you. Good luck and post pics of the progress!

My rattan score and resto project.

Post #144934 by PolynesianPop on Sun, Mar 6, 2005 8:25 AM