Why I'll Never Prep a Chair for Milk Paint in a Hotel Room

Other than trimming off the bottom of the arm post tenons, all that remained to complete the Continuous Arm Rocker for Christmas, was sand it and paint it. I was sure I had done a good job cleaning up after the various glue ups from the build. But Milk paint doesn't stick to hide glue for very long, even if you do use the bonding agent.

Soon after getting into chair making, and being warned about the perils of leaving glue residue on painted chairs, two thoughts occurred to me.

First: hide glue is mostly protein. Second: protein glows under UV light.

This "TaoTronics Black Light" was $8.00 on Amazon

So, after a quick search online, I ordered this small UV flashlight. It certainly made my life easier when it came time for the final cleanup before finishing.

In the case of the Christmas Rocker, it saved my butt. I was just about to put the first coat of paint on, when I remembered the UV light. And I discovered just how poorly I had done cleaning up during the build.

Below is a gallery showing all the areas I missed when I was building the chair. I must have really been in a hurry to get this thing together.

The the joints where the spindles enter the deck was ok, but I smeared some watered down glue all over the rest of it.

I'm thinking this was caused by a glue rag that had a little too much residue in it.

Did I even clean these joints?

That large drip of hide glue on the underside of the arm was nearly invisible under normal light.

You don't have to save the black light for chair making. It's helpful for cleanup anytime you're using a protein based glue. Just don't do your paint prep in a hotel room.