Trash to Treasure: How to Revive Old Metal Chairs

Do you love mid-century industrial furniture? I picked up two old metal chairs curbside. Here’s how to revive vintage metal chairs with everyday cleaning products. Great trash to treasure tips!

Do you sometimes spot a vintage treasure, but it’s in less than perfect shape…and you have no idea how to refresh it? I picked up two mid-century industrial metal chairs when I was curbside junking (see “Curbside Junking Finds”). In this Trash to Treasure: How to Revive Old Metal Chairs, I’ll share how I brought new life to these fun oldies.

Trash to Treasure: How to Revive Old Metal Chairs

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How to Clean Years of Grime

Often these old industrial chairs have been relegated to the workshop. They’ve got oily handprints and years of grime on the vinyl fabric and metal arms and legs. My first step is always to use a degreaser; THIS is my favorite. I use it to degrease old metal and wood pieces I pick up in garages and basement workshops. Rinse with hot water and dry.

If the vinyl fabric needs more cleaning, I use a bleach free cleanser with a soft nylon scrub brush. This yellow fabric looked pretty good-no stains or rips-but it needed a general brightening. I use THIS gentle cleanser on everything…and my kitchen sink;) I haven’t found it in stores recently, so I just buy a multipack, so I always have it on hand.

If the metal chair body needs an extra scrub, I use THESE soapy pads. This aluminum Navy chair looked like it had a layer of crackling shellac all over it. Scrubbing it with one of these steel wool pads was the trick. Rinse with hot water and dry with a soft cloth.

All clean:

How to Replace Damaged Fabric

Many of these mid-century utilitarian pieces originally had vinyl fabric on them. These industrial chairs are similar to the old costco stools every kitchen had. It was a hardworking fabric that held up well through the years. Many years later, they’ve often gotten a rip or tear and no one knows how to repair them.

The seat on the Navy chair and the arms of the yellow chair were damaged and needed to be replaced.

Little tabs or prongs are what held the old vinyl fabric on. You’ll need to bend these up to release the old fabric and foam. This seat also had a cushioned seal around the sharp bottom edge. I took that off and cleaned it, too.

Carpet padding is the best low-profile and inexpensive cushioning for these industrial chairs. If you use foam, it’s too poofy and looks weird. One or two layers of carpet pad will be enough cushion.

With a sharpie, trace the shape of the seat and/or arms. The carpet pad should fit just the top; it will not wrap around like the fabric.

Using a hot melt glue gun, adhere the carpet pad to the metal frame.

Shoot…I stopped taking pictures at this point! Must have been focused:( Just cut your fabric large enough to wrap around the seat and arm edge and hot glue to the inside of the metal frame.

Then reattach the refreshed fabric piece to the chairs. I used an old Bemis grain sack to keep the vintage vibe going. (find old grain sacks HERE)

Love how these tired old chairs turned out! I popped them in my booth; they look so cute for Spring-Summer.

Have you come across old metal chairs like this? If you love history, read more about the original Emeco Navy chair HERE. They were built for a purpose and made to last!

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