Several decades ago we purchased several pieces of Warren Platner furniture from Knoll --- the settee, the lounge chair & ottoman, two side chairs and the coffee table with a carrera marble top, all in polished nickel. We use them, and now need to reupholster them, not because of fabric wear but because the foam has hardened (my fault, I'm sure, for using wet upholstery cleaners over the years). The nickel has developed a patina that looks like rust and has even turned green in some places. The furniture was more attractive when the nickel sparkled, rather than its current dull, dirty look. We are thinking about trying to find a place that can pickle and replate the furniture before taking it to Knoll's recommended upholsterer. We'd appreciate any comments or suggestions on replating the metal and any recommended place in the NYC area to do it. The lounge chair and the settee are very large pieces that cannot be disassembled to fit in a vat. Thank you in advance to any responder.
Certainly it
sounds like the first step is to clean and polish the metal. Perhaps one piece, taken to a metal shop, would provide the answer as to how to proceed. One wouldn't want to damage the nickel plating . . .
Even professional cleaning would be less costly than a replating job ?
They're wonderful
pieces. After the upholstery is removed, a tedious but satisfying job would be to go over every wire with fine-textured Scotchbrite, to remove discoloration. Then they'd be ready for new foam and fabric. I wonder if there's maybe a separate shell that gets upholstered and "dropped into" the wire frame ?
I suppose there might be a dip-cleaning process -- it would be worth asking about.
Do some research on Oxalic...
Do some research on Oxalic Acid, also known and sold at the hardward store as wood bleach. It can remove the rust, but not the pitting. Of course, you'll want to strip the piece before you soak it. You would have to strip the upholstery if you wanted to rechrome them any way. A gallon of Oxalic Acid would be MUCH cheaper.
If you search, you can find some discussion about restoring platner furniture with this method.
Platner lounge chair, side table and ottoman
I have the same problem with my Knoll pieces. The nickel has dulled and show minuet spots of rush. I bought them in 1976 from Knoll. Is dipping the only way to get them clean, as it is impossible to clean each and every wire? Who would I seek out for such a service?
Platner cleaning
Call the nearest Knoll office and ask them to recommend someone in your area for cleaning or refinishing Knoll furniture.
In St. Louis, Knoll recommends Zollinger's for refurbishing their furniture, and Tinker's for reupholstering, although Zollingers does reupholstering also. It is expensive, but you have to know that the people doing the work are knowledgeable about Knoll furniture. I am having 3 pieces cleaned and it will cost about $900.00. Just make sure that you tell whomever does the cleaning that Platner is nickel finished over steel.
If you have a power drill,...
If you have a power drill, all you need is Mothers mag and aluminum polish, drill bit polishing attachments, and some vinyl gloves (the polish turns black when it's working)... This stuff works great on all metals.
http://www.amazon.com/Anytime-BUFFING-MANIFOLD-ALUMINUM-Stainless/dp/B00...
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com