Can you refurbish particle board

Related Articles. Part 1. Remove any hardware or accessories you don't want to paint over. If you're painting particle board furniture or touching up cabinets, there may be metal fittings or handles that you want to keep unpainted. Use a screwdriver to carefully remove any hardware, fittings, or accessories attached to the particle board that you don't want to be painted.

If you can, follow the assembly instructions in reverse to carefully take apart the item you want to paint. Make sure that you store all of the fittings, hardware, screws, and anything else you take out of the particle board somewhere where it won't get lost. Sand the board down with grit sandpaper. The lamination or sheen on the particle board will prevent paint from sticking to it. Use a medium to fine grit sandpaper, around grit, to sand down the face of the particle board you want to paint.

Sand it down lightly, only enough to remove the shine from it and expose the wood. Use only light pressure when sanding to avoid damaging your particle board. Use a vacuum cleaner or shop-vac to remove any dust that comes off the board while sanding it. To avoid getting the inside of your home messy, sand, prime, and paint your particle board outside. Coat the particle board with a layer of oil-based primer. The most difficult part of painting particle board is getting the paint to adhere to the surface.

Once the board has been sanded down, use a wide paintbrush to cover it with a single layer of oil-based primer. Make sure to get into any hard to reach areas so that the entire surface is covered. Always use an oil-based or solvent-based primer when painting particle boards. Oil-based primer should be available at your local hardware store. If you're unsure which type to use, ask an employee for help choosing the right primer and paint for you.

Give the primer 30 minutes to an hour to fully dry. Your coat of primer needs to be completely dry before you can begin painting the wood. Leave the particle board sitting out in the sun for 30 minutes to an hour to give it plenty of time to completely dry.

You can check if the primer is fully dry by scratching at it lightly with a fingernail. If the primer is dry, a fingernail scratch won't leave a mark or remove any primer. Part 2. Cover the board with a coat of oil-based paint. Once the particle board has been primed, you can begin coating it with your paint of choice. Dip a wide-bristled paintbrush or a paint roller into an oil-based paint in your desired color.

Work slowly and methodically to cover the entire surface with a coat of paint. Work in thin layers to make sure the paint is applied evenly and dries quickly. Oil or lacquer-based paints will work best for painting particle boards. However, if you have primed the wood with an oil-based primer, you should be able to use water-based paint without the particle board absorbing any water.

A variety of different colored paints should be available at your local hardware store. Choose one that you like and that will work well with the other colors in the room where you'll put your finished particle board. The glues holding plastic veneer to the particleboard core can often loosen over time, especially at the edges. This can be repaired with contact cement. Carefully lift up the loose veneer and use a putty knife to scrape away as much loose, dried glue as possible.

Apply a thin layer of contact cement to both the particle board surface and the bottom surface of the veneer. Use a small stick or a pencil to keep the surfaces apart for 15 minutes or so, until the glue is no longer shiny. Press the plastic veneer down onto the particleboard core, using a roller or block of wood. The veneer should bond firmly. Some particleboard furniture is not faced with laminate, but instead is already painted.

With these pieces, long exposure to water can create bubbles and permanent stains on the surface. The particleboard may even soften and begin to break down. To fix water-damaged sections of particleboard furniture, remove the damaged areas using a sharp razor, then fill the space with wood filler see above and sand smooth.

If the damage is extensive, remove the damaged areas and replace with a new piece of particleboard. If the furniture item is not that important or sentimental, you may want to evaluate the cost of the repair versus purchasing a new piece of furniture. Once all the damage has been repaired, it's time for sanding. Since particleboard furniture faced with laminate has a glossy finish, it's difficult for paint to stick to the surface.

If you skip this step, you might find your new coat of paint chipping off in a matter of days. Sand the entire item with fine-grit sandpaper or a sanding block to remove any old finish, lacquer, or gloss. The goal is not to sand off the plastic veneer, but simply to scuff the surface and give it "tooth" that will help the paint coat adhere. Be careful not to sand too harshly on the edges or you risk chipping away the top layer of the laminate. Picking the right primer will save you time by eliminating the need for many coats of paint.

In a pinch, you can use some of the paint to tint the primer. For instance, white primer can be tinted with the new paint to create the proper shade for painting black particleboard.

After sanding the item, apply the primer to the surfaces. It's tempting to skip right to the painting, especially if you're using chalk paint. However, resist the urge and take the time to add a coat of primer. This step makes it more likely that the new paint will last. Though you can use a roller to apply the primer, using a paintbrush to apply a thin coat will help ensure the primer gets into every crevice.

Some people like to skip this step because they don't like the shiny appearance of paint primers, but in most cases, you will have a better-looking final result with a primer applied over whatever color you're using.

If you do decide to go ahead without using a primer, just make sure that whatever color you're using is completely dry before you seal it up with polyurethane or varnish. Be sure to use oil-based paint acrylic paints are not generally advised because they sometimes contain chemicals that can eat away at the surface of particleboard and make sure to clean up any spills right away so the wood won't absorb them permanently. If you want to use more than one color, wait until after finishing the first coat before applying your second layer; this will ensure that your final result looks nice and even.

Don't forget to seal it with polyurethane or varnish afterward for protection and a glossy finish. Now that your furniture looks great again, you will be able to enjoy it for much longer than if you hadn't taken the time to fix it up. With these four easy steps, you can make even particle boards look new again.

Taking care of your furniture ensures that they last for a very long time. Many pieces of furniture can last for decades if they are properly maintained throughout their lifetime. However, this is not the case with every piece of furniture; some pieces like particle board furniture will start to deteriorate relatively quickly. This is because the particle board consists of wood chips and sawdust that are glued together using formaldehyde, a chemical compound that helps bind everything together so it can keep its shape.

Unfortunately, formaldehyde breaks down over time which makes the glue less effective at holding everything together so your particle board furniture starts to lose its structural integrity which leads to chipping paint and other cosmetic issues. Since you have likely already spent money on buying or refinishing your particle board furniture, consider taking care of it as much as possible so you don't have to buy new furniture again.

You should wipe down your particle board furniture regularly so it doesn't get too dirty or dusty after you've cleaned it. This is especially true if you have pets because fur tends to clump up in cracks and keep particles of dust from being removed by normal cleaning methods.

You can use whatever solution you prefer, the important thing is that you don't need anything too strong which might strip off the paint or varnish protecting your surface.

If you do want to use something more powerful, make sure that water-based solutions are used instead of oil-based ones which can cause damage over time due to repeated exposure.

Sometimes the damage is inevitable, even if you're taking every precaution. This is why it's so important to learn how to repair particle board furniture which will inevitably incur damage over time due to normal wear and tear or accidents that might happen within your household.

If you have a particle board chest of drawers, for example, this type of damage can be repaired by repairing the affected drawer first. After opening up the damaged area with a screwdriver, take some wood glue and spread it into the crack where two or more pieces meet before clamping them together using plain masking tape which should match the texture of your furniture.

If needed, use a sharp knife to carve out small notches on either side of the crack so that they fit perfectly when clamped together; make sure not to go too deep if the area isn't severely damaged.

Let the glue dry for about twelve hours before you can put all of your drawers back in place and use them again. If you like to learn more about how to repair water damage , check out this article on repairing damage to cabinet doors. In conclusion, it's important to know how to refurbish particle board furniture if you want it to last for a long time.

The easy steps above will help you do just that by empowering you with the knowledge of how to keep particle board furniture in good condition so you don't have to buy new pieces anytime soon.