Ami sent us an email: Hi AT! Long time reader, first time questioner here. We bought 4 vintage Casalino molded plastic chairs off of Craigslist: Unfortunately the plastic has yellowed with age. When we went to pick them up, they were in a dim & warmly lit room, so we didn't realize that they were so discolored until we got them into our bright & coldly lit house.(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.
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Good Questions: Remedy for Yellowed Casalino Chairs?
So my questions are:
1. Is there any way to lighten the chairs without damaging the plastic?
Chlorine bleach would obviously damage the plastic, but would oxygenated bleach be harmful to the finish? We're dubious this is even an option since we're 99% sure that the yellowing is heat/UV plastic degradation, but it's worth a shot.
2. If there isn't a way to clean the chairs, can we successfully paint the chairs?
We're not concerned with resale value -- we just want the chairs to not look like they're nicotine-stained. My spouse thinks that an acrylic paint would work, but I'm convinced that any DIY job would quickly start to flake since the chairs do flex a minute amount when you're sitting in them.
Please add your suggestions and advice for Ami to the comments below...thanks!
Comments (11)
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the lazy way would be to change your lighting to something warmer, and then you won't notice the discoloration.
other than that, i have no advice! maybe you can test the bleach in a hidden spot to see what happens? then do the same for the paint - try a bit and see if it works at all.
view thinlizzie's profile
I'm not sure what those chairs are made from -- vinyl, resin or fiberglass?? If vinyl, I THINK (don't KNOW) that Krylon paint for plastic would probably work. It's supposed to be formulated for that use, though. (Somewhat limited color range...)
view SherryBinNH's profile
Pink Lightbulbs: Your chairs will appear white again.
view bepsf's profile
If you're going to paint them you need to ascertain what type of plastic they are. Then you need to find a suitable paint for plastic/fiberglass - most boating places will be able to help. Then you need to cut through whatever finish is on the chairs - most older plastics have a clearcoat applied to the mould before being cast. fine sandpaper will cut through but make sure you wear a mask! Finally, paint. A brush is easy but will leave marks/ spray will be smooth, but is messy and requires special equipment.
If you've got some extra cash (don't we all this season) an auto body shop would be able to do these and they would look HOT.
view Modfan's profile
Oxyclean or Comet with a good scrubber?
view dsigninslc's profile
try a magic eraser. they often can remove a "permanent" patina
view mrs yow's profile
The no brainer on this is to change the light first.
view Clairepetrol's profile
Try having them gelcoated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelcoat
view sunspot42's profile
If you can't lighten the chairs, maybe you can dye or stain them instead of painting (depending on the material, of course). Minwax makes a gel stain that works on fiberglass and I've heard reports of using plain old RIT dye on plastics. Maybe you'd want to look for professional help along these lines, though; DIY chair dying might be unwieldy. I'm picturing a huge witch's kettle of dye hanging over a bonfire...
view somethingelse's profile
My mom has the same chairs from the 70's so if your chairs are that old you can try what we did. Rustoleum has a spray paint in cans that adheres to plastic. I spray painted them once, lightly sanded and then painted again. The finish has lasted a few years and we are able to clean the chairs using softscrub or bon ami. The finish does wear in the areas that are used the most, like the arms, or bottom of chairs but it takes awhile.
view katec's profile
Thanks for the suggestions. The chairs are plastic, but I don't know what kind of plastic.
These chairs are an original set from the '70s (or so we were told and have no reason to think otherwise), and we bought them for our kitchen. We have 7 fluorescent ballasts in the kitchen that we rather like, so changing lighting is out.
I think that we're going to try an Oxyclean paste somewhere in a hidden curve first. If that doesn't work, we'll explore our paint options.
katec, thanks for the Rustoleum rec! It's good to know you had a successful experience with it.
view ami's profile