The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
Rattan is even less porous than willow and is therefore not often stained, usually being left natural or finished with a thin coat of pale varnish. It is customary first to singe off the "whiskers" with a mild flame before finishing.
OIL ENAMEL ON FIBRE AND WILLOW
Fibre may first be glue-sized as previously described, then worked into shape, but willow is steamed and shaped without sizing. The first step is to spray on a coat of flat paint undercoater tinted to the finish color and thinned with a little turpentine to aid penetration. A brush may be used instead of a spray, but this method is not nearly as quick or thorough.
It is not, of course, possible to sand the undercoater, for which reason a very finely ground type is required which will lie smooth. Fibre calls for two coats; willow being less porous, needs but one, after which a finishing coat of elastic high grade gloss enamel is sprayed on. Some manufacturers use but one coat of primer and one of enamel, others two coats of enamel and one of primer, still others two coats of enamel only, the first reduced somewhat with turpentine. These variations depend largely on the selling price, on the character of materials and the amount of time it is desired to put into the finishing operations.
SPECIAL OIL ENAMEL FOB FROSTING
"Where the enamel is to be frosted, and practically all wicker furniture at some time 18, the above methods are apt to require considerable time, since it is essential that all coats, especially the last one, be hard dry lest the frosting color penetrate and blur instead of wiping off clean and smooth. To overcome this, special "two-toning" enamels have been constructed to top dry with extra speed but without sacrifice of elasticity. Such enamels may be safely frosted in from five to eight hours and will give fully as durable service as the standard type.
LACQUER ENAMEL ON FIBRE AND WILLOW
The advent of nitro-cellulose lacquers has made it possible to finish up wicker furniture complete for frosting in from twentyfour to thirty-six hours. A special elastic lacquer primer should be employed, followed by one or two coats of lacquer enamel, but many think it better and cheaper in the case of glue-sized fibre to employ a paint undercoater of a type adapted to use under lacquer, allowing it to dry twenty-four hours, followed by a coat either of colored or clear lacquer. Naturally oil or oil and japan frosting colors may be applied to lacquer enamel with safety in an hour or less, and lacquer enamel may be applied to willow with either clear lacquer primer or no primer at all. Spraying is preferable to dipping or brushing.
