Expert: Anderson's Restorations-Rob Anderson - 9/5/2008

Question
I have an antique chair that was painted yellow (paint type unknown)that my son retrieved and my late father recaned with plastic cane.  I would like the remove the paint and restore the chair; however, I do not want to destroy the cane work since Daddy did the work.  What can I use that is safe for the job?  The chair was salvaged from the college that all three of us attended and has sentimental as well as antique value.

Answer
What a great story to go with the chair.
I am going to assume you are sure it's plastic cane and go from there.
First, their should be a way to remove the seat frame from the chair. The front legs should be glued to the seat frame and passably 2 screws through the back legs. These are probably under some buttons. Gently scrape the paint away where the buttons or screws should be and take them out and remove the seat frame from the chair.The reason to remove the frame is that you can approach the stripping of the chair without the possibility of damaging the cane. The seat frame can be stripped with a little more caution in mind.
I would get a semi-paste stripper to start and follow the directions.I have used a non commercial product called Dad's Stripper with success but it is best used as a water wash so you may want to look at some other brands also if water wash is not passable for you. Whatever you decide to use, go ahead and do the chair first so you can see how easy the paint strips off.Then do the seat using care around the cane, passably a brush. It shouldn't hurt the cane but we just want to be extra cautious. You also need to buy a Qt of a liquid stripper and some #0000 steel wool. When you have the chair and frame pretty clean, use the liquid stripper and steel wool to "finish the job". Sand lightly as necessary. Stain if desired. Remember, a stain can be used to enhance the color by using like Golden Oak on oak.
 When you have it stripped or if you already know the wood type, get some new plugs for the screw holes from a woodworking supply store or if you have a woodworking shop in your area, I would think you could get a couple from them.
 As far as a finish goes, that would be your choice but my recommendation would be one of the wipe-on types because of they are easy to use. Again, just follow directions and BE SURE to dispose of rags properly
 Good Luck with this project, send me a pic when your done
 Rob
http://www.andersonsrestorations.com