How to Paint Lawn Furniture

Sand wooden lawn furniture with 150-grit sandpaper, and sand glossy surfaces with 220-grit sandpaper. Sanding helps renew treated wooden surfaces, and it also helps rough up glossy surfaces for easier priming.

Clean the lawn furniture with a trisodium phosphate cleanser. If you're working with brand-new furniture, you don't need to worry about cleaning, but used lawn furniture gets dirty when exposed to the elements.

Prime wood surfaces with a stain-blocking primer, and use bonding primer on vinyls or plastics. A spray-on primer is useful for curved furniture; if the surface is flat and easy to paint, a brush or roller works well. Many woods naturally seep sap and oily residue over time, tarnishing paint. Stain-blocking primer protects against these blemishes. Bonding primer is highly adhesive, giving a good base coat for paint adhesion. Wait for the primer to cure before continuing. Stain-blocking primer is ready for painting in just a few hours, but some bonding primers take 24 hours to cure. Consult the container for accurate drying estimates.

Paint the lawn furniture using an oil-base exterior paint. Spray paints are best for most furniture, but if the surface is flat and easily paintable, a brush or roller is equally effective.

Apply a second coat once the first coat dries.