When guests come over for a barbecue or to watch the night sky, seat them in style by giving weathered outdoor furniture new colour and life!

An old picnic table or Muskoka chair with peeling paint and chipped or splintered wood isn't hard to make look like new. With a little effort and the right products and tools, you'll be able to fix those little imperfections and end up with great looking furniture!

Most wood, plastic and metal deck furniture can be transformed into stylish outdoor pieces, provided you complete the proper surface preparation, priming and top coating procedures. Taking the time to do these steps correctly will provide the best results and protect your furniture for the longest possible time.

Wooden Furniture
To repaint wooden outdoor furniture, remove any peeling paint with a stiff Dynamic wire brush used with the grain of the wood. Use one with a scraper blend end for those real stubborn areas or an arced one so that you can get into those awkward contours and crevices. Most of the Dynamic wire brushes have a knuckle guard handle to save your hands too ! Be sure to wear Dynamic safety apparel — goggles for eye protection, work gloves and a dust mask. Next, sand the piece with 120-grit sandpaper or a Dynamic Medium sanding sponge, also with the grain. Then switch to 180-grit paper, and sand again until the surface is smooth, especially along edges between painted and unpainted areas. Dust off your piece with a small Dynamic paint brush and then wipe it down with a Dynamic tack cloth to remove any remaining grit and dust particles. Then paint any bare wood with an appropriate exterior wood primer and let dry.

After the primer is dry, paint the entire piece with an exterior acrylic latex paint and a Dynamic Micro Fibre 6mm mini roller - it will give you the smoothest results in the shortest period of time. Use a Dynamic Sovereign paintbrush to complete detail work or get into small areas. Be sure to paint even the hard-to-see places underneath - they need the paint for protection, if not appearance. Let dry and apply a second coat; let dry.


Plastic or Resin Furniture
For plastic resin (PVC) patio furniture, prepare the surface by scrubbing with detergent and water. Rinse thoroughly. Scuff-sand the surface with Dynamic 220-grit sandpaper (wearing eye protection and a dust mask). Wipe surface with a Dynamic tack cloth.

Apply a high adhesion acrylic bonding primer recommended for exterior use on plastic. Some are available in sprays and, if not a spray, apply with a low pile Dynamic Micro Fibre mini roller. Allow this to dry overnight before applying a top-coat. (Never leave primer unpainted).

For the finish coat, you can use 100% acrylic exterior latex paint in semi-gloss or gloss, depending on the look you desire and the color you want. Or, an easier way to finish your piece is to spray it with Dynamic Acrylic Spray enamel available in a range of basic colors. If you go the spray route, be sure to spray on two or three light coats, allowing sufficient drying time in between coats, to ensure you get no paint runs on any edges. No matter what you choose, ensure it is a product recommended for use on outdoor furniture. After you've finished painting your resin (PVC) patio furniture and it has thoroughly dried for at least one week, apply a coat of liquid car wax. This will help keep the furniture shiny for a long time and makes cleaning much easier!


Metal Patio Furniture
Plastic is easy to clean and store, wood looks natural but in some settings nothing beats the charm of vintage metal patio furniture!

Give metal furniture a fresh look by first washing it with a mild detergent, then rinse and allow to dry. Next, use a Dynamic wire brush to scrape off rust and loose paint flakes. We recommend any of our plastic green handle wire brushes for this job as they are made with stainless steel filaments which are ideally suited for work involving a metal surface. Look carefully: if paint has bubbled (a sign of rust underneath) use a screwdriver or chisel to break the bubble and chip away the loose paint, then scrape with a wire brush. Remove remaining rust with a rust remover like Rust Buster from Surf-Pro.

Paint or spray the furniture's surface with rust-resistant paint. If the furniture is very corroded, you may want to prime first with a rust-resistant primer. Let dry, planning on 12 to 24 hours for each coat, depending on weather and temperature.


Get Creative!
Why not give your outdoor furniture some added pizzazz? Use Dynamic's EdgeWise tape (low tack painter's tape) to mark off stripes and geometric shapes on any furniture surface, and use different size brushes and different colors of paint to create fun designs. If you've got kids, let their imaginations run wild!

Tips:

• No paint will stick to a greasy or wet surface - always clean and dry thoroughly.
  
• Even small chips or scratches should be touched up immediately with primer followed by matching paint to prevent rust forming on metal surfaces.