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How to restore outdoor chairs made of fibreglass polypropylene?

I have 6 outdoor chairs which despite being marketed as uv resistant (and quite expensive) have deteriorated to the point that they are shedding tiny fibreglass fragments which makes them unusable (despite structurally being fine). They are apparently made of “fiberglass polypropylene resins with UV additives”. I am wondering if there is a way to re-seal them or a product I can use to coat them so they can be saved from landfill. If there is, should I hand sand them first with a fine grit sand paper or will this make the fibreglass shedding worse? Thank-you.

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MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @phoebe_bish. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about coating furniture.

You might like to try some White Knight 310g Clear Gloss Squirts Spray Paint. With a few coats, it should be enough to cover the fibres and is suitable for plastics and interior and exterior use. Since the chair is resin, I'd suggest you do a test section in an inconspicuous section to ensure the clear coat binds well to the surface.

I'd do the test section without sanding, and hopefully, you can get away with not having to sand at all. If you did decide to sand and when spraying the furniture, please remember your PPE, including safety glasses, a face mask, disposable overalls, gloves and enclosed footwear.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

MamaCassi

I woud REALLY like to know how this turned out! I have the exact same problem!

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/35283#Comment_35283

Hello @MamaCassi

Let me tag @phoebe_bish to make them aware of your question. It would be interesting to find out if the White Knight 310g Clear Gloss Squirts Spray Paint stopped the fiberglass shedding. You could always try and test the clear spray on your chair.

I suspect that the spray will act like a coating on the surface of the chair and stop it from shedding. But the only way to find out is to give it a test.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

phoebe_bish

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/35283#Comment_35283

Hi @MamaCassi

I ended up contacting the manufacturer and they recommended this process which I followed and was really happy with the results!

https://redneckmodern.typepad.com/redneckmodern/2011/08/new-life-for-ikeas-urban-chairs.html

the trickiest bit was preparing the chairs. In the end using a dry scotch-brite to smooth particularly rough edges was the most effective.
I also did two coats of penetrol. It restored the colour in the chairs amazingly!
For the spray paint, my local Bunnings was often out of the Rust-oleum clear satin 2x ultra cover spray, so I ended up using Dulux Duramax Semi Gloss Clear Spray.
good luck!

MamaCassi

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/80048#Comment_80048

Thank you so much for the response ! That is wondeful and I will certainly give this a go !

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/104491#Comment_104491

Hi @MamaCassi

Please make sure to post a photo update on your chairs. I'm sure our members will be keen to see what your chairs will look like after you've restored them.

Eric

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