Phil & Ted’s Stroller Rehab

I bought an old Phil & Ted’s stroller off of Craigslist. I LOVE Phil & Ted’s and would love to buy a new one, but they are quite expensive. The design is a double-decker stroller with one kid riding underneath the other. Genius. 

The red fabric on my stroller was worn, torn in places, and covered in little black dots. Mold? I scrubbed it with Clorox, left it out in the sun for a couple of days, and then went to work rehabbing it. 

I had heard about something called fabric spray paint, and Google told me that Michael’s carried it. I went and had a look at it but it said it was for soft fabric, which the fabric on the stroller is thick. I’m not hyper afraid of chemicals, but not super keen on sticking babies in spray painted containers. However, I didn’t see much of a choice and planned to let the stroller air out outdoors for a couple of days (which I did). I bought 2 cans of Krylon in a purple/gray color. I painted the second seat from the double kit first (it detaches). The 2 cans covered ONE side of the double seat. So, I went to Wal-Mart and bought 3 cans of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch in what I think was called “Island Breeze” in satin. I would have called it “Peacock” but they didn’t ask me. I ended up using 7 cans of the turquoise color. After taping off the legs of the stroller, bagging the wheels, and covering the handle, I painted the body of the stroller. It took about 4 coats. The fabric really soaked up the paint. 

I spent about $35 on paint.

The spray-paint left the seat really plastic feeling, which is kind of gross. I had a bolt of upholstery fabric that I bought at the Thrift Store for $2.88. I measured the seat, cut the fabric, and measured where the holes in the fabric should go for the straps. I made those cuts and then covered the back of the fabric in glue. I used PVA, a common bookbinding glue. I used PVA because I had a gallon + of it handy. I did no sewing, which I don’t totally recommend but I knew that I’d be able to tuck the raw edges under the seat, so I wasn’t worried about it. I also knew I was going to spray the seat with a protective finish, and that it would be somewhat held together by that. I also covered the sun hood in basically the same way that I covered the body, glue. I painted the inside of the hood the same color as the stroller.

After I covered the top seat and straps, I sprayed the whole thing with a spray enamel.

I left the stroller outside to air out for 2 days before trying it out. I’m not on vacation with said stroller and getting a ton of use out of it. Because the fabric soaked up the pain so much, there a few places that I’ll have to touch up when I get home. I’m mostly happy with the project. I’d rather have a brand new Phil & Ted’s, but this one is unique and I hope it lasts us the rest of our strolling years!

Total spent on rehab: $45

*It is pretty stiff now, but no, it's not sticky. It feels like vinyl now. If the stroller were more closed-in I'd probably be more worried about it. AND I covered the primary seat with fabric, so it doesn't have the vinyl feel. If I were to do it again I'd probably use the Simply Spray Upholstery Fabric Spray Paint in red, hoping that the red would take on the red and not take too many cans.

Rocking Horse

I bought this awesome wooden rocking horse at Lovelady Thrift Store for $1.98 (!). It was in great shape, but the head was a little wonky and the body was pretty banged up. My plan was to paint it and sell it, but my older daughter loves it, so for now it has a home in ours. For each project I plan to discuss, at least briefly, the type of paint I used and my methods. You should know, I am loyal to Rust-oleum and use it almost exclusively. They don't pay me (in case that isn't painfully obvious!).

This is the before- a sweet lil boring horse:

I used wood glue to secure the head back on.

Paint used:

Leftover gray porch paint for the body

Yellow Rust-oleum "High Performance Protective Enamel"

Various acrylic paint for the accents

I sprayed it with Rust-oleum spray enamel

Without further ado:

About this blog

I have always loved paint. I love that you can take something boring and make it fun. I love the smell of paint. I love paint on my hands. Around the age of 10 I started painting my room every year or two. The first time I painted my room I painted it Shamrock Green. When I was 14 I moved into the attic. I painted the flat walls purple, and using a stamp I made in the shape of a sun I painted darker purple suns. I painted the tilted walls yellow, with orange suns. I painted the baseboards lime green. It was absurd. I loved it. When I got married my dad told my husband to get used to carrying a paint bucket.

Now, as an adult, I paint my living spaces and things I find at the thrift store. We are living in a small rental house right now, but preparing a more permanent move back into the house we bought 4 years ago. We don't have very much furniture and what we do have is old. I have several projects planned, and thought I would start a blog to chronicle the painting of all the things.

I'm starting with a wooden rocking horse that I bought at the thrift store for $1.98. After that, some furniture, and eventually the walls in our new (old) house. I will try to discuss process as much as possible and share what brands of paint I use and tricks along the way.