How to paint or restore chrome table legs

A. Hi. If the flanges on the new legs are large enough to securely glue them to the wood underside of the table, that would probably be best, because screws or bolts into the rather thin wood doesn't sound promising. But, yes, you could, if you're handy enough, bolt the flanges to flat steel plates and glue the plates to the bottom of the wood for more glue area.

You sent us a pic of the old chrome legs but we apparently lost it. Someone somewhere would probably like to have them, but finding such a person in a timely fashion probably isn't likely.

Luck & Regards,

Hi Ted, Glueing sounds like the way to go. Thanks for your advice.

Re: the legs, it pains me to throw away something that has potential value to someone, but the likelihood of finding the someone is unlikely. To ease my conscious, I'll post them for free before letting go.

A. The chrome should not have chipped off. But once it has, you are pretty much limited to taking the components to a plating shop as there is actually a great deal involved in replating, including stripping the old finish, reactivating, nickel plating, and chrome plating. And if the finish is pitted below the blistered area, mechanical finishing and copper plating and buffing will probably be required as well.

Thank you Ted. It's difficult to tell at first glance if it is chipped or just surface blemishes. What is the best way to clean up chrome kitchen tables and chairs?

A. There are numerous polishes that seem to work. Chrome polish, Copper Glo [affil links], etc. If one of these removes the discoloration sufficiently, well there you go. If not, and your standards for this are fairly low, you could try bumper paint. Otherwise, replating is the only option and it's something you'd have to go to a plating shop for; and in low volume it's quite expensive.

A. I just refinished my grandmother's chrome formica top table and surprisingly enough I had really good luck. It was so easy! I used a medium grade steel wool [affil link on Amazon] pad and applied "naval jelly [on eBay or Amazon] ". You should wear rubber gloves [on eBay or Amazon] when you apply it, and should sand any rust with the steel wool beforehand. Then liberally apply the naval jelly to the steel wool pad and work it in. Just follow the directions on the bottle for timing. I had really good luck and it was done in a day.

Depending on what shape the chrome is in you could also remove the legs and take it to be rechromed, this method is more costly, but the results are much better than any chrome paint, which would eventually peel, crack and have to be done over. Best to you!

A. Hi, David.

There are inexpensive rattle-can paints made for the purpose such as Bumper Chrome Paint [affil links], but I certainly agree with Kristina that this is at best a temporary measure, and may "reduce the contrast" where the plating is bad, but it won't really look like chrome plating. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Nickel-chrome plating is not something you can do at home, Brandi. The best thing to do may be clean it with chrome polish, Copper Glo [affil links], or some other decorative metal polish, and then wax it. Once the chrome has rusted through like this, the underlying steel is very prone to continuing rust.

Chrome is not a paint but you can use paint that tries to imitate chrome [Bumper Chrome Paint [affil links]] and see if it's good enough for you as a touchup. If not, you'll need to take the legs to a chrome plating shop--but it may cost more than you like.

A. I was just suggesting car wax [on eBay or Amazon] , Sara -- Turtlewax liquid car polish [affil links], wax [affil links], etc. Whatever you use, the bare steel (where the chrome is gone) will rust again quickly unless you can keep it constantly waxed.

A. The chrome has been destroyed and cannot be replaced with paint. Clean it with chrome polish or a sulfamic acid based metal cleaner, wax it, and that's the best you can do at home.

A. Remove all the chrome pieces of your table and take them to a plating company. There are plenty in your area.

A. The professional way of doing it right would be as follow: Take the parts to a chrome plating shop for electro-strip then a blast...glass or sand. Request that they leave an alkaline detergent rinse to give you time to paint. Metal parts will rust immediately otherwise. You may spray some oil ( WD-40 [on eBay or Amazon] or Mineral oil) on it, especially if you do not painting the item the same day the items got electro-strip.
Once you are ready to paint, you either remove the alkaline detergent by water hosing it down or use thinner to remove the oil.

Items need to be very clean before paint.

Another way is to go directly to a powder coating shop and have them blast the parts before you paint. Better if you have a buddy that has a sand blasting cabinet in their garage. Now since you are at the powder coating shop to get a quote for blasting, get a quote for powder coating color. Powder Coating is much cheaper than electroplating services. Powder coating is Awesome. They offer matte, glossy, semi-glossy, crinkle coating at a reasonable cost.

Now if you are determined in doing it yourself by cutting corners, you need to wash the part with water and soap. Dry. Then hand sand the parts with #4 steel wool [affil link on Amazon]. This should remove any rust build-up and prime the surface to accept paint. Wipe with lacquer thinner [on eBay or Amazon] (steel wool contains oils). Then paint. Paint does not like to bind to smooth surfaces.

Happy Restoration...

A. Hi, Becky.

Naval jelly is a mild acid but acids dissolve chrome, hence the manufacturers' warning not to use it on chrome plating.

Please be aware that when people talk about chrome plating they are usually actually talking about a very heavy plating of nickel, followed by a light flash of chrome (see our Intro to Chrome Plating FAQ). If the chrome is dissolved or damaged, it may not be immediately apparent since the nickel plating looks extremely similar. So it is possible that Kristina's procedure damaged the chrome without it being immediately evident.

Nickel plating is quite corrosion resistant itself, for interior use, so the table may still be fine even if the chrome was completely removed; but nickel is slightly less blue than chrome and can tarnish to a somewhat yellowish tone. For chrome that suffers outdoor exposure, the consequence of damaging it with naval jelly would be more severe. What is your situation?

Regards,

• Topic 12615 "Repairing/re-plating Chrome kitchen table legs"