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Green Ideas for Recycling Old Bar Stools By Caroline Smith of www.GetBarStools.com Do your kitchen bar stools look like they've seen better days? Or have you freecycled some secondhand stools only to find they look dated and tired? Even if your limited budget doesn't stretch to new eco-friendly furniture, there's no need to make do with shabby looking bar stools. There are several environmentally-friendly, easy and inexpensive things you can do yourself to smarten up your old bar stools. 1. Polish wood bar stools with a homemade polish made from olive oil and a few splashes of lemon juice - a little goes a long way! It's surprising what a difference polishing wood can make. Simply rub your oil mixture all over the wooden frames and then use a clean, dry cloth to polish to a shine after a couple of minutes. 2. Use baking soda to rejuvenate metal bar stools. Sprinkle dry baking soda onto a clean, damp cloth and wipe it all over the stainless steel or chrome parts of the stools. Remove any powdery residue with another clean, damp cloth and then use a dry cloth to buff to a shine. 3. Remove drink stains from wooden seats. There's no need to spend money on expensive stain removers. Mix up a paste of baking soda and linseed oil and rub it into alcohol stains to remove them. You might have to leave it a little while and reapply, but with a little effort this should shift them! Watermarks can be removed by rubbing with toothpaste and baking soda. 4. Re-paint. You could cover up unattractive wooden frames by painting them. You'll need to sand them in preparation. If you need to strip the original finish to get back to the bare wood, you can make your own non-toxic, eco friendly paint stripper. Mix up a thick paste of washing soda crystals and water and spread it over the old finish. If you leave it overnight, it should help loosen the finish so you can use a scraper to remove it. You probably won't need much paint, so rather than buying a new tin that you're not going to finish, why not ask friends for any leftover eco paint they want to get rid of? 5. Make new seat covers. If your stools have padded seats, you should be able to remove the original upholstery and replace it with your choice of fabric. If you've got an old pair of jeans in the closet, denim is a good durable material for covering seats. Or you could look in your local thrift store for pretty curtain fabrics you could use. Fit the new fabric over the padding and secure it in place with a staple gun. With these green tips you can make old bar stools look almost as good as new, without blowing your budget!Article Source: Written by Caroline Smith. Follow the link to learn more about Wood and Metal Bar Stools |
