Updates to old furniture self-adhesive film is an excellent inexpensive solution. Gluing it to the facade is not at all difficult, but you get sloppy folds on the edges and corners. It is immediately clear from them that the furniture has been restored with film. You can stick it without such defects if you follow the following tips.
What you will need:
- Self-adhesive film;
- stationery knife;
- mounting hair dryer;
- plastic spatula.
Film gluing process
The film is cut with a margin. It should extend beyond the part on all sides. At the initial stage, everything is done as usual. Part of the layer of paper covering the adhesive side is torn off, and gluing is done on the front side of the part. In this case, overhangs should remain.
At the corner, the film must be folded along the edge, but not allowing it to stick. Then, at the bend, it is evenly heated with a hairdryer. You can’t keep it in one place so as not to burn through the film. When heated, it will become softer and more pliable.
At this moment the hairdryer is removed.You need to pull the film at a slight downward angle, and smooth the corners on the edges along the entire heated length with your finger. As a result, it will stick to them by a couple of millimeters.
For the convenience of further work, excess overhangs are cut off.
Now we need to tackle the corner. To do this, a spatula is applied to the edge of the hanging film, and along it, as if under a ruler, it is cut with a knife from corner to edge.
After this, the film on the side of the edge to which the spatula was attached can be glued. It will fit perfectly.
Its extra side length wraps around the corner.
You need to leave 10 mm of it, the rest is cut off.
The part of the bend that extends through the corner onto the adjacent edge is cut flush from below. We cut its overhang from the corner at 45 degrees.
The film is finally glued to this edge. You need to leave an overhang from it that is 10 mm larger than the open part of the part on the wrong side. Then it is glued to the wrong side. Now the knife blade is applied to the back side of the part from the corner to cut the film along the line where it is not glued at the junction with the next part. This method of cutting with a hem gives a very high-quality, outwardly perfect edge.
The second overhang of film is taken in the corner and pulled down. It is glued to the edge. From the corner it is similarly cut at 45 degrees, and then glued on the wrong side.
The excess is cut off at the junction with the next part.
Finally, you need to check whether the film is stuck everywhere on the bends. It is important to press down the flaws. By covering the furniture in this way, you will make it look like it’s new, and not at all like it’s been restored.
