Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/13/2010

Question
I picked up an old chair I plan to paint the wood. The seat is made up of Rush woven into four triangles to form the square seat. Actually its more like twisted grocerybag paper. It appears to be in good condition but dry, and Im concerned that it will obsorb any spills.  It isnt saggy but dosent seem as tight as Ive seen other chairs like tis.   I hosed it off thinking it would tighten up and it did slightly. It also has cording or cardboard stuffed inbetwen te layers of rush/cording I've heard its best to just coat it with scotchgard and not paint or varnish these type of rush chairs. What do your recommend?  I plan on fishing the chair with a wax mixture after it is painted.

Answer
Hi Diane
Nice to hear from you.
Yes the Scotchguard treatment is fine.
You can firm up these seats by sandwiching some corrugated cardboard between the rush triangles.
Turn the chair over and work from the underside.
And they actually are made from brown paper..like grocery bags LOL.
Great question
Regards
Eileen