Hi everybody!
I've been lurking on this site for many years. Now it's my turn to ask you all for some advice. I inherited a late 50s/early 60s Eames Lounge & Ottoman. Aside from the usual shocks and cushions, I am dealing with dried red paint splats on the rosewood. SO my question: is it possible to remove the paint without it getting into the grain and damaging it? I would much prefer to do it myself than have to have someone refinish the entire shell.
Thanks!!
Well, I guess I'd start with some tests.
Your shells appear to be oiled, so at least there's no film finish to worry about trying to preserve.
First, try pushing the edge of a stiff plastic credit card into it to see if it might scrape off easily. Rosewood is pretty hard. If you're careful, you won't dent it.
No luck? Oh, well, it was worth a try. I'm a fan of mechanical removal if at all possible. I hesitate to recommend it, (because it requires a well-prepared edge and a steady touch) but I'd probably go to my Swedish steel card scraper at this point.
Next steps would be to test sequentially stronger solvents by putting a single drop onto the worst area, letting it sit for a few minutes, and blotting with a clean cotton rag to see if any color comes off. Water, alcohol, mineral spirits or naphtha, heptane ("Bestine" rubber cement thinner), lacquer thinner, acetone, in that order. As soon as any color shows up on the rag, you'll know what to use.
It may end up that you need to use a paint stripper of some sort if none of the above soften the mess. There's no harm in using multiple applications of most off-the-shelf strippers and a relatively soft brass bristle brush will work any residue out of the open pores of the rosewood. Just be careful and neat in your work and keep any sanding to the finest grits and an absolute minimum if you have to do any at all at the end.
And, of course, you were going to re-oil anyway, right?
Then there's the matter of that little veneer loss there at the edge...
Good luck!
Easiest way is to grab some...
Easiest way is to grab some #0000 Steel wool, dip in some paste wax and rub down/polish the entire piece. When you encounter the painted areas slide a small piece of the steel wool under your finger nail and carefully and forcefully rub away the paint, attacking from different directions.
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My first thought would be to take a razor blade and pulling backwards very carefully take a little off at a time, but I'd try to think about it more than once.
I just grabbed one from the bathroom and tried it on the veneer on this desk, works a treat, they wear out quickly though.
I find that that teak oil
loosens latex paint pretty quickly, at least the brand that I use (Star-Brite). You will need a little #0000 steel wool to help it along but if you let the oil sit for 5 minutes it won't take too much.
If it's oil paint, then it will take something more, I think. I would probably try the razor blade scrape as suggested above. If you go very gently and with the grain, it can work without hurting the wood. Followup with oil and buffing.
...
A while back I found a 30" Nelson pedestal side table, the top of which was entirely painted black; I picked all the paint off using a hair dryer and my fingernails, and later thought holy cow that would have been a lot easier if I had just used this here razor blade. I am not always the most patient person with these things though, so it was likely to my advantage to use a non-sharp instrument that couldn't fuck anything up.
I'd probably just leave this be, but I also have tons of crap that is already spray painted red. On that note though, after you destroy this chair, you can just spray paint it red!
insert smiling 'emoticon' thing here
But after the chair is destro...
But after the chair is destroyed the razor blades will come in handy.
As tktoo suggested you can also get a nice fine scraper, but you need to put a hook on it, which takes some skill. If you're pulling backwards its not likely you'll cause any damage if you're careful.
cornelius,
don't try to sand the paint off. A light sanding with P400 should be the final step to prepare the surface for application of an oil finish.
If you're not naturally inclined toward these kinds of tasks, there's certainly no shame in taking the panels to a restorer that would likely be able to quickly remove the paint without any trouble and could take care of that veneer loss to boot.
no sanding... but concerns with cushions to ask
I hear ya, tktoo. I was referring to your original post. I'm really so grateful for everyone's input, and I'm researching options at this point (while very much enjoying the comments and experience of others along the way).
The chip is an issue, yep. The cushions, too. Two of the smaller ones are in good shape, or so they seem from the outside. But the seat cushion and ottoman cushion are pretty wrecked. Those cows deserve medals!
SO here are my questions for the experts:
Do you think the leather from these cushions are salvageable? I suspect not, in which case, in considering the interests of a future owner or collector, I am wondering if it is preferable for me to keep these cushions as-is, even if they are in crap shape? Or should I reupholster the two cushions to color match the ones that are OK, so that most of the set is original? Would it be preferable to replace the entire set of cushions with a set manufactured in the same era? Or new cushions altogether?
And what do y'all think of the tan? Personally I think it's way more mod than the black! It's totally grown on me!!
Thanks!
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