How to Wrap a Chain with Sisal Rope on a Porch Swing

It all started with an old porch swing that was given to me. I knew I was going to update it with a good coat of white paint, but other than that I had no clue what to do with that ugly chain. Then I got a great idea to cover the old chain with rope! YES! I had hopes that it would give the swing a more coastal vibe. I was right! Let me show you how to wrap a chain with sisal rope.

Before we dive into details on how to wrap a chain, let me show you what it looked like before.

You can see the old chain hanging off of the ugly wood seat. The poor wooden swing had seen better days. As you know by now, gifted furniture that needs a little love is music to my ears!

I gave it a good wash, a little sanding and some new white paint. You can see more about how to maintain outdoor furniture here. It looked MUCH better, but still something wasn’t right. That’s when I decided to add the sisal rope around the chain.

Here’s another view of me hanging the chain from the ceiling of our porch. You can see more details about how to hang a porch swing here.

I HATED the look of the old chain. I felt like the wood looked new, but the chain was a constant reminder of what it used to look like.

I wanted to find a way to update the chain without having to purchase anything new.

That’s when I decided to wrap the porch swing chain with rope.

This is the rope I used from Ace Hardware.

How to wrap a chain with rope for a porch swing makeover

• Start at the base of the swing where the chain screws into the wood and hot glue the beginning of the sisal rope to it

• Continue to hot glue the rope to the chain every few inches while wrapping it around the chain

• Work your way up the chain wrapping the rope and using hot glue every few inches
• When you reach the top, move to the other side and repeat these steps
• Once the front of the chain is complete, start wrapping the rope from the middle (where the chain meets the rope that goes to the ceiling) and continue down the chain

Below is what the top of the chain looked like after I wrapped it with rope. I made sure to hot glue the ends really well.

Once you’ve worked the rope around the chain all over, you are done!

One piece of advice; check the ends and make sure they are secured really well to the chain. Go back and add more hot glue if necessary.

Ready to see the entire swing?

You can see more of our cottage style porch makeover here.

How does the rope wrapped chain hold up over time?

It’s been almost two years since I wrapped the chain with sisal rope. This porch swing has been through extreme lower Alabama temperatures AND a Category 3 hurricane.

Honestly, it STILL looks almost as good as it did the day I wrapped the chain with rope. Let me show you.

You can see the sun hits the back of the rope and it has faded just a tad. I’m still more shocked that it’s still intact.

This close up shows that it hasn’t unraveled one bit. I was a little nervous of how the hot glue would hold up (especially around 100 degree coastal Alabama humidity), but as you can see, no real wear and tear (or unraveling).

My take away; it was definitely a great idea to wrap the old chain with sisal rope. This project didn’t cost much and the end result looks so much more expensive and high end than it was!

I’m off to see what else I can wrap with sisal rope. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lindsey**