Restoring Your Wicker Furniture
Wicker furniture is very convenient for everyday use.
It is light weight, inexpensive, and supports weight fairly well.
Unfortunately wicker is a finicky substance that doesn't like being too dry or too wet.
Also, wicker has the ability to develop mold.
If you've left your furniture outside too long or by your woodstove one too many winters there are things you can do to bring it back better than it was before.
The first thing you need to do is clean the wicker chair.
I prefer to use a detergent to get the wicker very clean.
Use a rag to scrub along the surface of the wicker.
Then use an old toothbrush or small (new) paintbrush to get between the crevices.
This is also your chance to remove anything that has embedded in your wicker like pet hair or pine needles.
Tweezers work really well for removing this debris from your chair.
After your chair is cleaned completely you need to inspect for any mold.
Wicker furniture that gets wet will develop mold colonies that often look like little black dots that won't wipe clean.
In order to clean this mold off you will need to use bleach.
If it is just a spot you can use a 50/50 blend of bleach and water in a spray bottle and just touch up on the mold spot.
If the whole piece of furniture has been wet for any amount of time you should consider bleaching it all.
For this I would just place a capful of bleach in a gallon of water and clean the whole wicker piece again.
Let the bleach water stand for 5 minutes and then wash the whole chair again with clean water.
Now the tricky part.
You need to let the wicker piece dry at a steady rate.
If the weather is dry and sunny out just leave the wicker outside all day.
Then when night comes or the weather changes bring the wicker inside.
After a couple of days the wicker moisture will have stabilized.
You now have a completely clean, dry, mold free wicker.
This is the best opportunity to paint or protect your wicker seat.
If you use a clear finish like lacquer you should finish with a coat of furniture wax.
By taking this extra effort you won't have to repeat the cleaning nearly so soon and your wicker furniture will look fantastic.
It is light weight, inexpensive, and supports weight fairly well.
Unfortunately wicker is a finicky substance that doesn't like being too dry or too wet.
Also, wicker has the ability to develop mold.
If you've left your furniture outside too long or by your woodstove one too many winters there are things you can do to bring it back better than it was before.
The first thing you need to do is clean the wicker chair.
I prefer to use a detergent to get the wicker very clean.
Use a rag to scrub along the surface of the wicker.
Then use an old toothbrush or small (new) paintbrush to get between the crevices.
This is also your chance to remove anything that has embedded in your wicker like pet hair or pine needles.
Tweezers work really well for removing this debris from your chair.
After your chair is cleaned completely you need to inspect for any mold.
Wicker furniture that gets wet will develop mold colonies that often look like little black dots that won't wipe clean.
In order to clean this mold off you will need to use bleach.
If it is just a spot you can use a 50/50 blend of bleach and water in a spray bottle and just touch up on the mold spot.
If the whole piece of furniture has been wet for any amount of time you should consider bleaching it all.
For this I would just place a capful of bleach in a gallon of water and clean the whole wicker piece again.
Let the bleach water stand for 5 minutes and then wash the whole chair again with clean water.
Now the tricky part.
You need to let the wicker piece dry at a steady rate.
If the weather is dry and sunny out just leave the wicker outside all day.
Then when night comes or the weather changes bring the wicker inside.
After a couple of days the wicker moisture will have stabilized.
You now have a completely clean, dry, mold free wicker.
This is the best opportunity to paint or protect your wicker seat.
If you use a clear finish like lacquer you should finish with a coat of furniture wax.
By taking this extra effort you won't have to repeat the cleaning nearly so soon and your wicker furniture will look fantastic.
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