Make it Natural
I admit that too often I have used oven cleaner to strip the antique finish off wood furniture only to turn around and add stain or milk paint to the furniture. Why do this when the natural wood is so gorgeous!? So, for the past few projects I have opted to simply coat the wood in wax. Wax is great because it does not darken the wood the way some liquid sealers do. Creating furniture with this natural golden hue is not difficult. It is, however, a bit of a workout! See the directions below.
I found these chairs and loved the spindle details and cane seats. I knew another oven cleaner project was in the works! (I love my projects.)
The chairs have made their home in my tea room. They will be perfect for sitting in – but also fantastic in future photo shoots.
Directions:
1. Clean chairs with spray cleaner and a gentle spray of the hose. Wipe dry.
2. Find an outdoor location with a drain. Ready your hose. Wear protective glasses and gloves.
3. Spray the chairs with oven cleaner.
4. Wait a few minutes.
5. Spray with water using the jet setting.
6. It may be necessary to scrub with a brush or cloth between spraying with water.
7. Wipe with a dry micro cloth or towel and set the damp chairs in the sunshine.
8. Wait until very dry to test the “doneness” of the chairs. There will most likely be stubborn areas of stain that still needs to be removed.
9. Spray the areas that need a second dose of oven cleaner and repeat the previous steps.
10. Once the chairs are completely dry you might need to lightly sand areas that still missed the second dose of oven cleaner. (A chair with lots of spindles is very stubborn!)
11. After the light sanding, use a natural wood wax and cloth to rub in the wax. (Wax is messy, have a blanket down to catch the bits of wax that fall off.)
12. You are done! The wax has sealed your chairs and preserved the golden natural wood color.