Here are 19 easy methods to recycle your wooden chairs. Different chairs are used in the home, including metal, wooden, and plastic materials.
Can You Recycle Wooden Chairs? You can recycle certain types of wooden chairs and use them as mulch, paper production, producing energy and fuel from them. You can reuse wooden chairs by making shelves, pets’ beds, storage boxes, and cloth hangers. You can also refurbish them by repainting and reupholstery.
Disposal of old furniture is a difficult task, but different agencies are working on it. They collect your furniture either they donate it or send them to reprocessing units for their better use.
People love to place different styles and designs of furniture in their living rooms, besides the dining table and in the garage.
After some years, many people want to change them to furnish their homes with new designs and give them a new look.
But the question arises what to do with these old chairs? You can’t place them in storerooms or garages; they only cover extra space there.
It is beneficial if you recycle them and take advantage of them. Many industries are making different things by recycling wooden furniture.
You can reprocess chairs if they are made up of these woods:
- Clean timber
- Dimensional lumber
- Stumps
- Limbs
Make mulch from old wooden chairs
You can make mulch from them, and it is a valuable thing in the garden. It the used as a fertilizer in your garden for the growth of plants.
It blossoms your garden because it reduces the growth of the weed, moistens the surface, and keeps them cool.
When they become old, separate all their parts from repurposing them and cut the larger parts into shorter pieces after separation.
Now use a commercial grinder and add chippers in them according to the size of the wood. They will grind all the pieces and give them a granular texture.
Now you have to add some green leaves and barks in them to make it organic. Then. Grind them for the second time for 2 to 3 minutes.
It is essential that keep some distance from the grinding machine and protect your eyes with goggles.
Mulch is ready, and use it in your garden to spread them around the leaves and barks to increase their growth.
Building material
The chairs that are made of tensile strength wood are used in building materials. You can separate its parts and send them to the recycling industry.
It will go through several processes to make it useable again. First, due to their tensile strength and low moisture, they are used in concrete buildings.
People use them because it is a natural source, readily available and also provides good insulation.
You can also use them on floors, windows and making doors. They also resist the high temperature during hot summer days.
It also gives a stunning look to the buildings and homes, so people use them as a construction material.
Garden filling with wooden chair parts
When they become old, you can recycle them and use them as a garden filling. First, remove all parts and then shred them by using a commercial grinder.
Now spread this material in your garden for raising the flower beds. It can also fertilize the soil and prevents the entry of dust into your homes.
It also provides a smooth and beneficial floor to your garden.
Generate Energy purpose
When your chairs become old, don’t through them in the garbage and landfills. They are renewable sources and produce energy.
You can submit them to the recycling industry; they cut them and remove impurities from them. Then, they burn them, and their heat converts the water into steam.
The steam is used to run the turbines that are connected with power generators for their efficient working.
Many industries recycle them to produce fuels to generate electricity, heat, and power used in commercial, industrial, and household scales.
Make Pulp for paper production
The manufacturing industries are making papers and newspapers by recycling old furniture. They are collecting them and then shred them by using the shredder.
Through the mechanical process, the shredded wood chips are converted into pulps. The pulp mainly contains lignin and cellulose. This process helps make the weak paper that is used in newspapers and phonebooks.
After chemical pulping, they separate the lignin from the cellulose and produce strong paper. After the formation of pulp, the large spraying machines spread them into mesh screens.
Then it is going through several processes to remove moisture and drying them. After drying, they are run into the heating rollers to give the final shape.
In this way, you can use chairs to produce a beneficial material from them.
Hardboard and chips
The manufacturing industries also using their fibers on hardboard. They use the shredded pieces in the decoration of hardboards and then cover them with glue and laminates.
It gives the finishing and attractive look to the hardboards. Their fibers are also used in chips for decoration purposes. It is cost-effective and readily available, so people use them to decorate marble chips then laminate them with glue.
You can also extract their fibers and use them in plaster of Paris for exterior designing of your homes.
Which types of wooden chairs are not recycled and why?
You can’t recycle all types of chairs; some can’t go through processing for reuse purposes due to different reasons.
The types that you should not repurpose:
- Treated wood
- Paint treated
- Pressure-treated
- Furnished
- Creosote treated
- Stained
- Chemicals treated
You can’t reuse them for different purposes because they are treated with paints, and they contain arsenic content in them which is highly poisonous.
You can’t use them as mulch or garden filling because of dangerous chemicals that damage soil conditions.
They are treated with chemicals that are not beneficial for humans and can cause harmful effects. In addition, the pressure-treated chairs loosen their strength, so you should not use them again.
If you reuse the pressure-treated ones in building material, it can cause damage, and they can’t resist for a long time.
It is also challenging to make them safe and remove impurities from them to put in reprocessing units.
You can’t use them in building materials due to their low tensile strength.
They are mostly coated with paints and varnishes to make them attractive. The varnishes contain lead, mercury, and Teflon chemicals. These chemicals are poisonous to the environment if they are released into the air during reprocessing.
How can you reuse old wooden chairs?
The woods that are not good for recycling can use them for multipurpose. I have added great DIY ideas to repurpose them for daily routines with little effort.
Change the upholstery
People place different chairs in dining rooms, living rooms, and garages; some of them have upholstery seats.
If you are getting bored with the same color and same design, you can change their upholstered covers to make them look new and stunning.
You can do this by removing the old ones and replace them with new colors and designs. You can also use leather covers of a different color.
They are also available in different designs and prints that give them an aesthetic and modern look.
Some have cushions; you can change them or renew them by adding new covers with different techniques.
Repainting and change legs
Repainting is also the best option when you want to change their overall look. For example, it looks fabulous if you repaint them with the colors that best match your whole furniture.
You can also match them with the varnishes of your home walls.
You can also coat the legs with different paints designs. It gives them a matte look if you varnish them with chalk paint.
It also makes them brand-new and different if you change their legs and install the new legs with different styles.
Sell and buy new ones
Many people are selling different items and then buy new ones. In this way, you can also sell the old furniture and exchange them for new and modern ones.
It is beneficial to not place them in stores where they only occupy space.
There are various showrooms which are selling old furniture you can bring your chairs to them. In this way, it will also save your cost of buying a new one.
It also protects the landfills from the wastage of old ones. It also provides ample space in your home for the placement of new ones.
Use as exterior wall decoration
When you have old vintage wooden chairs in your homes, you do not waste or dispose of them. The exterior of the house looks classical and stunning if you add them to exterior walls.
You can break them into creative ideas then apply paint on them. Paint all the parts with different colors and designs.
Hang these stylish parts on the outside walls of your hose. It also gives a more antique look if walls are cemented or painted with grey or whitish color.
You can hang them and secure them with the help of nuts, cement, and wooden glue.
Use as Cloth hangers
Cloth hangers are always needed in homes for hanging purposes. You can separate the back of the chair and polish them with the new color.
You can also apply furniture polish on them, so they don’t look old. Now you can hang them on your balcony for drying of clothes.
You can also place them in your wardrobes for hanging the multi coats and your shirts.
You can also make a scarf holder from the backside and place many scarfs in them.
Wall shelves in kitchen
The reuse of old wooden chairs is more beneficial than throwing them in the garbage. Make a small shelf from them.
Hang them on walls and paint them with shades that match the walls. Now you can place your kitchen accessories on them; it also looks creative.
You can also place decoration accessories of the kitchen on them to give them attractive touch.
Food plates for pets
When you have old chairs in your house, reuse them as a food plate for pets. Remove the upholstery seats if they have cushions, then remove them.
Remove all the remaining upholstered fibers and stapler pins from them. Now install a steel plate in the center and secure them with nuts.
It becomes a beautiful and fantastic food plate for your pets, and they love to eat in them and enjoy their food.
Swings
It can also help to make outdoor swings for children, so they enjoy their playing times. It can also save your cost for buying new swings.
You can coat the chair to refurbish it and give them a finished look. Now tie a high-strength rope on both sides and attach them with a rod.
Storage box
You can also make a storage box for the placement of home accessories in them. What you have to do is remove the backside.
Attach the ball joints or moving joints on the lower backside of the chair, and then attach the rear with them.
Remove the seats and install them on the lower side of the center. Now, it becomes a small storage box and places your things in them, and they can be open or closed quickly.
Small bed for pets
Place the two chairs in the direction that they are facing one another. Attach both of them by drilling holes and securing nuts. You can also attach them with glue.
Now, a small bed for your pet is ready, and you can also add slipcovers to them.
Bench and garden shelves
You can also make a bench by placing the 3 to 4 chairs adjacent and attaching them by using nuts and glue.
You can also place them in gardens and place the flowers on them. Small flower shelves filled with different greenery enhance the beauty of the park.
What are the benefits of recycling wooden chairs?
Recycling wooden chairs are primarily crucial to saving the environment. When you are reusing the wood, you need fewer woods from the trees.
It makes your environment less polluted and saves for human beings. It can also improve the process of global warming by reducing the cutting of trees.
It also helps in the production of more energy and fuel from them. It also provides more employment opportunities for workers in the reprocessing industries.
When you are throwing them, the rotting woods increase the environmental pollution; you can reduce this by reusing them.
When you are repurposing the extra or waste products rather than wasting them, it can also reduce the space in landfills.
It also saves your money because they are used to make valuable things. In addition, it is also helpful in protecting the climatic fluctuations by reducing the greenhouse emission of gases.
It also reduces the industry cost because they need fewer raw materials to develop new products.
You can also donate your old wooden chairs as an act of charity. However, if they are too dirty and worn, call the special agencies to collect them and properly waste them in landfills.
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