Breathe New Life (renew) Into an Oxidized PVC Deck Chair Ready for Tha Landfill.

This short instructable is for renewing and re-using  a PVC Adirondack deck chair which is faded, oxidized and ready for the landfill. Thus diverting it from the landfill and extending the life the chair.

This is not Recycling but it is Re-using and Reducing

Friends of mine were about to turf these two Adirondack chairs.
They were faded and had a whitish oxidized plastic dry surface which would flake off,
transferred to clothing and leave a mess.
They tried many times to clean them to no avail.
I told them I could fix them up Good as new.
Naturally I was doubted, but see the results. My friends were astonished, you will be too.

What you will need for this green project is

Oxidized PVC deck chair, ready for the landfill.
One bowl with mild soapy water, biodegradable works fine.
One scrubby sponge ( scrubber one side sponge the other)
Water hose ( for rinsing)
Heat gun

Enjoy.

Step 1: Step 1

The first step is to clean the deck chair.
With the bowl of soapy water and scrubby sponge completely scrub down the deck chair.
after cleaning rinse the chair then let dry fully.

Step 2: Step 2

The second step is to use the heat gun to carefully melt the surface of the PVC.
Turn the heat gun on to high or full.
Bring the nozzle of the heat gun toward the PVC.
As you get close you will see the PVC melt slightly and flow.
Keep the heat gun moving. Circular or linear does not matter, just keep the heat gun moving.
Being careful at all times not to go too slowly over the surface and heat it too much, it may bubble, sag or burn.
The process is time consuming but the results are amazing.

If you did it right it will look like new.

You can do this with almost all faded and oxidized plastics.
I have fixed bird feeders, tables and chairs this way.
The pictures are of my 12 yr old daughter refinishing one of the chairs.

Step 3: Step 3

The third step is to enjoy your renewed deck chair. So sit back and relax.

I hope you enjoyed this instructable as much as my daughter and I did fixing up the chairs.
I know you will be amazed at the results.

Rob

Comments

[SharonS153]

This really worked! A little time consuming but SO much easier than trying to spray paint! And there's no mess. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

[DianneA13]

I have a white vinyl rocker with a lot of black oxidation . What happened to the black dies everything turned white again? What's a heat gun. Sorry if it sounds stupid. Does the heat bring the black oxidation to the top and you brush it off?

[Wintor1]

What a great way to prolong the life of plastics. I broke a chair that I loved and was not able to find a new one. Found 2 old chairs for cheap that were very white and looked bad. Cleaned and used my heat gun and now have 2 very useable chairs. Th

[nancyjwebb]

You can also use a blow torch.

[Organikmechanic]

A great tip and brilliant to be able to reuse plastics rather than throwing them into landfill. Well done! Thanks for posting. Best Wishes from France, Organikmechanic aka Andy.

[BigBadgers2001]

Holy cow, that is amazing and yet so simple. Nice job!!!! and nice instructable too.