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Kali

(55,019 posts)
Sun May 7, 2023, 03:29 PM May 2023

repairing plastic lawn chairs - best method?

yes I'm cheap. also these are harder to find "big and tall" chairs. two of them cracked at the top back, not sure how - possible got the car door slammed on them when they weren't far enough in the back. anyway I have done the drill-holes-and-wire-together and the drill-holes-and-bolt both sides to a piece of wood/plastic/metal scrap. saw this how-to using super glue and baking soda. anybody ever try it? any other glue actually work? (nothing I tried before does but it has been a few years and I think there are new products out there)

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Fix+Plastic+Chair+Cracks/131819

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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repairing plastic lawn chairs - best method? (Original Post) Kali May 2023 OP
Super glue and baking soda is an old luthier's trick to fill in things like guitar nut slots. Emrys May 2023 #1
I learned the holes and coated wire in Mexico. Kali May 2023 #4
Yep, very rigid. LunaSea May 2023 #2
ha! was that real? Kali May 2023 #5
There are a lot of YouTube videos of super glue and baking soda Warpy May 2023 #3
I guess it wont hurt to try it Kali May 2023 #6
It's certainly a cheap enough fix Warpy May 2023 #8
Fiber Fix Tape IbogaProject May 2023 #7
Hey, that FF Tape looks pretty cool LunaSea May 2023 #9

Emrys

(7,250 posts)
1. Super glue and baking soda is an old luthier's trick to fill in things like guitar nut slots.
Sun May 7, 2023, 04:31 PM
May 2023

That's my only experience of it. The nuts are usually made of a very hard plastic-like material (originally they'd be made of substances like carved cow bone) and not at all flexible.

The baking soda makes the superglue set almost immediately and also acts as a filler to give it some bulk, that's all. I'd have no faith in it to fix anything flexible like a plastic chair. The superglue most likely wouldn't stick well enough, and the join would be too stiff to be durable on its own.

The best I can offer is to suggest a method using fibreglass as used in car body repairs etc. (either the liquid filler on its own or backed up with fibreglass mat for reinforcement), possibly coupled with the other fixing methods you've tried, though that's also unlkely to be flexible and adherent enough to make anything like a permanent repair unless you're very lucky.

The only other method I can suggest is some type of plastic weld, melting the edges together. I've seen some folks on YouTube use plastic zip ties fed into a hot glue gun as a filler after using a hot blade to try to blend the edges of the crack together beforehand. That seems plausible, but the problem is that any thermoplastic when heated tends to go more rigid than is desirable and is unlikely to match the flexibility of the original material.

I also tend to try to fix stuff rather than buy replacements myself, but I think this is one case where I'd say the chairs have had a useful life and it's time to replace them, hopefully being able to send the old ones to be recycled into something new and useful again.

Kali

(55,019 posts)
4. I learned the holes and coated wire in Mexico.
Sun May 7, 2023, 07:24 PM
May 2023

works good. still have a couple old chairs that I fixed that way. when it is just the top of the backs there isn't that much stress. when the handles or legs break then it is time to go bye. though some will work with a 5 gallon bucket as a spare leg in an emergency.

LunaSea

(2,895 posts)
2. Yep, very rigid.
Sun May 7, 2023, 04:43 PM
May 2023

That bakingsoda cyanocrylate mix.
Might work with some reinforcement, but I suspect
The suggestion of fiberglass might be the best solution for durability.

Heat is also quite useful with some plastics.
Embedding some heated coat-hanger gauge wire might
be a good approach. Always depends on the type of plastic.

Finish it off with a torch-
https://imgur.com/gallery/v3dXbUG


Warpy

(111,316 posts)
8. It's certainly a cheap enough fix
Sun May 7, 2023, 09:46 PM
May 2023

so even if you have to repeat it every season, you won't be out much.

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