Recycling timber furniture
Good quality timber furniture can last many generations, especially if it’s seen some care over its life and is made of solid timber, but even the best-loved pieces reach a point where they are no longer functional furniture. Instead of seeing that furniture head into landfill, there are a few things you can do first.
1 - Repair
If the piece is looking a bit tired or worse for wear, but you can still see a use for it in your home, why not try repairing it. A fixed leg, replaced hinge, or fresh finish can make even the most tired old piece come alive again, and anything you fix up yourself is a great conversation piece.
Identify the problem
In order to repair your furniture, you first need to figure out what’s wrong with it. Go through and make a list of the issues, and you can start to think about
Is it split along a glue line or a joint, or has a board come apart? Gluing a piece back together isn’t too tricky, just make sure to have enough clamps on hand.
Give any glue up a dry run by clamping it all in place without the glue and seeing if it will mend nicely. This gives you plenty of time to figure out how and where to best clamp it before the ticking clock of drying glue starts.
Is some of the hardware broken or missing, such as a drawer pull, cupboard latch, or a door hinge? Try to find a similar piece somewhere online, new or second hand or if you’re feeling daring try to fashion one yourself.
Has it been a bit too well loved and there are some patches of dull or white in the finish?
If it’s an oil or wax finish, you can purchase some new finish, give it a quick cut back with some steel wool and a cloth, and fix those sore spots.
If it’s a lacquer or polyurethane finish, you may need to sand it back to the timber and refinish it. If you do this, make sure to use a sander or sanding block with a vacuum attached as these finishes can be hazardous to breathe in once sanded off.
High quality furniture refinishing is a fine art, but don’t be discouraged. Try it out somewhere hidden first and see how you go.
Find some help
If you’re not feeling confident about repairing it yourself, there are plenty of furniture restorers, woodworkers, carpenters, and hobbyists out there who will restore your piece for you.
Don’t be discouraged though, with a bit of research and time you can make many small repairs and treatments to furniture yourself. If you have a project but aren’t sure where to begin come and have a chat with us in store.
2 - Donate
Maybe the piece has done its time in your life and it’s ready to move on - that’s okay! Instead of throwing it out, finding a home for it to go to will help keep it out of landfill and get a few more years use out of it. Instead of putting it out just for a council clean-up, where it’s often compacted in a truck before being taken out to landfill, consider donating it directly to an organisation like The Bower, or social-good service like an op shop (find a great list of op shops in Sydney here).
You can also post your furniture on online trading groups such as Street Bounty, Buy Nothing, Pay-It-Forward or any trading groups are local to you.
3- Recycle and reuse
If you’re not able to find a home for it in one piece, the final option is to recycle it. At Among The Trees, we often get donations of furniture that has served a long life and isn’t in any shape to be used, but is still full of beautiful timber that is worth separating and reusing. This isn’t your first option by any means - if your furniture can find a new home and life as is, that’s great! However, if that’s not working, breaking it down is another way to stop that material from ending up as rubbish.
You may want to reuse it for a project of your own, or to give it to someone else who will be able to use the timber for another project or piece of furniture. Old chests of drawers and wardrobes in particular often have long, straight, solid boards for their sides, tops, and fronts, which are perfect for desk tops, shelves, and more.
If you’re interested in recycling your timber furniture at Among The Trees, or have any questions about recycling timber furniture, get in touch with us. Please note, we can only take solid timber and plywood furniture, and not MDF or Particleboard.
