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how can I clean wooden rocking chairs (painted white). Simple Green, vinegar, magic eraser, etc not
I have 4 of them. They are almost black in spots (may be mold). I've heard a pressure washer will take off the paint. I would rather not use bleach if possible.
1 Answers
First of all, do not ever use a pressure washer to remove paint from furniture. It probably won't work very well and it'll make the wood wet and drive the water and any mold deep into the fibres of a soft wood like pine. Worst of all, if the paint is more than 40 years old it may contain lead, and pressure-washing it off is almost the perfect way to contaminate your entire work space and you yourself with ultra-toxic lead.
I actually sort of doubt it's mold. If it is, though, the mold is likely in the paint and under it, not on the surface, so no cleanser will work. (Bleach also damages paint, so you wouldn't use that anyway.) The best way to attack it is to clean the entire surface with trisodium phosphate (do NOT substitute with a "green" cleanser - TSP is necessary in this case) and repaint using a proper anti-mold primer, then cover with two coats of topcoat paint. If you do choose to remove the paint, don't sand or pressure-wash or do anything that takes the paint off in dust form. If you want to be environmentally careful, use a heat gun and a maple scraper and scrape the paint you've removed into a coffee can, then take the can to your local dangerous goods depot.
My suspicion is that it is not mold but something from under the white paint migrating through the paint. Regular paint doesn't seal off anything: paint is porous, and things like the previous paint, old stain, and even resin from pine and other woods can migrate through the layers over time (it can take a year or more) and discolour in blotches just like this. It often happens when a cheap manufacturer or an unknowing customer uses cheap paint without a primer to cover bare wood or stained wood. The only thing you can do is repaint starting with a stainblocking primer, then two coats of topcoat. I'd use at least a mid-quality paint in a satin finish. If you sand between coats, you'll get a smoother end product.
By the way, don't use vinegar or Simple Green on painted surfaces. Painted surfaces can be cleaned with a mild solution of dish detergent or plain soap in water, then rinsed in pure water.
I actually sort of doubt it's mold. If it is, though, the mold is likely in the paint and under it, not on the surface, so no cleanser will work. (Bleach also damages paint, so you wouldn't use that anyway.) The best way to attack it is to clean the entire surface with trisodium phosphate (do NOT substitute with a "green" cleanser - TSP is necessary in this case) and repaint using a proper anti-mold primer, then cover with two coats of topcoat paint. If you do choose to remove the paint, don't sand or pressure-wash or do anything that takes the paint off in dust form. If you want to be environmentally careful, use a heat gun and a maple scraper and scrape the paint you've removed into a coffee can, then take the can to your local dangerous goods depot.
My suspicion is that it is not mold but something from under the white paint migrating through the paint. Regular paint doesn't seal off anything: paint is porous, and things like the previous paint, old stain, and even resin from pine and other woods can migrate through the layers over time (it can take a year or more) and discolour in blotches just like this. It often happens when a cheap manufacturer or an unknowing customer uses cheap paint without a primer to cover bare wood or stained wood. The only thing you can do is repaint starting with a stainblocking primer, then two coats of topcoat. I'd use at least a mid-quality paint in a satin finish. If you sand between coats, you'll get a smoother end product.
By the way, don't use vinegar or Simple Green on painted surfaces. Painted surfaces can be cleaned with a mild solution of dish detergent or plain soap in water, then rinsed in pure water.
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