How to restore sun-damaged Rattan chair?

momo_T

Hello lovely people. 

This long weekend i have decided to bring my sundamaged rattan chairs back to life. 

This is my first project. Not a d.i.y-er 

So i visited bunnings, the guy at paint shop suggested using Deck clean and then Varnish. 

But the bunnings diy video suggested sanding, priming and then spray painting. 

And the youtube videos are suggesting  lintseed oil? 😶

Im lost. H.E.L.P. can I bring these☝️ babies back like they used to be 👇

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @momo_T. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about restoring rattan.

The more people you ask, the more methods you'll likely hear. As I see it, you need to address the issues present: grey faded timber and lack of protective coating. So, I'd be inclined to use Feast Watson 1L Woodclean and then a Clear Exterior varnish to restore colour and protect the chair. I prefer the woodclean product over Cabot's deck clean as it performs better on greyed timber due to additional ingredients.

Since you don't want to paint the chairs, the Bunnings How To isn't the best choice of instructions to follow. Linseed oil will return some colour, but you've waited a bit long for that to restore them completely. They've now greyed off and, with oil application, will likely give you a reasonably dirty look. However, you could use the woodclean product and then the linseed oil. You'll need to coat with linseed oil at least once a year to maintain the protection.

The Feast Watson Woodclean product is super simple to use. Put on protective gear like gloves, eyewear and a long-sleeved shirt and scrub the chairs down. You'll see the timber transform in front of your eyes.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell