Best Paint For Outdoor Metal Furniture (Adding Patina)
HOW TO ACHIEVE THE PERFECT AGED PATINA ON YOUR OUTDOOR METAL FURNITURE WITH PAINT!
Earlier this summer, I found the most beautiful set of vintage garden chairs for sale online. The price was right, and they were in the next town over. One of the chairs had the most beautiful, naturally rusted patina but the other had been painted blue.
Here is the listing photo. The chairs were pretty enough to put a little work in to make them match.
I planned to try and refinish the blue chair to match the natural patina of the white chair.
I figured I could easily repaint them both in a matching color if I failed.
To jump ahead for a second, I didn’t fail, but I did make some mistakes that had to be corrected before I figured out a better way. I’m going to walk you through my process to show you what worked and what didn’t.
Best spray paint for metal outdoor furniture
When it comes to the best spray paint for metal outdoor furniture, I always go to Rustoleum spray paint. I used this brand on my wheelbarrow planter years ago and it’s held up wonderfully.
The Rustoelum paint is designed to prevent rust and protect. Even though my ultimate goal was to get the rust look, this was the best option for covering up the old paint.
Another option is to use a paint sprayer, but for this project, I preferred a can of spray paint. Oil-based paint is harder to clean out of the sprayer. Exterior paint is usually oil-based rather than water-based paint.
Plus spray painting with a can is much faster than setting up the sprayer.
The existing paint on the blue chair was beginning to chip in places. Before I started, I used a wire brush to scrape some of the chipping paint and loose rust from the chair.
Next, I put a drop cloth under the chair and sprayed the entire piece with a coat of flat white Rustoleum to cover the old paint. I never like glossy finishes on outdoor metal furniture.
Obviously, you always want to spray paint outside in a well-ventilated area. I sprayed two light coats of white spray paint over the chair.
A new coat of paint worked wonders on this chair. I could’ve just sprayed them both white and called it a day, but what really drew me to these chairs was the patina on the original rusted one.
I’ve seen outdoor rusted furniture like this for sale but it’s hard to find. It’s also very expensive when you do find it.
Best Paint for OUtdoor metal furniture if you want to add aged patina
Now, I did some searching on what to use to get that aged, rustic look. My search led me to this metal effects rust painting kit. This paint is designed to hold up for outdoor use.
I’ve heard of this product before and decided to give it a try.
This kit has three bottles; a primer, an oxidizing iron paint, and a rust activator spray. It’s simple to use and comes with instructions but I’ll show you how I used it and how it worked for me.
How TO Paint Metal Furniture With A Brush
Because I still wanted some of the white paint showing, I had to use a brush to paint this chair to control where I wanted it to be white and where I wanted the rust look.
First, I used a small artist’s brush to paint on the primer. The directions suggest two coats, and waiting 30 minutes in between. The primer is the rust-colored paint.
This was a little tedious to get on with a regular artist’s brush and it was coming out a little darker than I liked. But I went ahead and did the whole chair this way. After I had finished, I thought of a better way.
To get the paint on easier and without any brush marks I bought these small round sponge brushes.
They worked much better.
For step 2, you paint on the iron paint. This is black paint that goes on very light, almost watery. This tones down the orange and gives it a more realistic look.
The third step requires you to spray on a light mist of rust activator which sort of oxidizes the paint. Here are the two chairs side by side.
The right side is the one I painted. If I were to do this again, I would skip spraying the rust activator because it looked more natural without it.
After this step, I used one of the sponge brushes with this outdoor paint in wicker white to lightly tone down the areas where it was too orange or too oxidized.
That worked well for me. If you didn’t know which one had the original paint you probably couldn’t tell by looking at them now. My husband guessed wrong when asked.
Pretty good, right? As far as DIY projects go, this was an easy one. I’d love to find a vintage table to pair with these to make a patio set. I’m also looking for two seat cushions to make these more comfortable for sitting.
how to create a rust look on metal furniture
One thing I figured out during this process was how to best apply the rust-colored primer from the Metal Effects rust kit. Using a dry brush technique was the best way.
To do that, I poured some of the paint into a small container and dipped the small brush lightly into it. Then I would stamp it onto a paper plate to remove any excess before applying it to the metal.
A little paint goes a long way with this technique. Another bonus is you won’t get any paint drips.
Doing it that way kept it much more realistic looking. I highly recommend using the sponge brushes and dry brushing the paint for the best outcome.
After that, I would do the same with the black iron paint and skip the third step altogether. While the rust activator didn’t look bad, the chair looked more natural without it. Especially when compared to the original.
what can you put on metal to make it rust
In addition to achieving a natural patina with paint, there are other ways to create a rusty look on metal furniture. I chose paint for my project because I needed to match the other chair.
One option I read about is to mix equal parts distilled vinegar with peroxide and add it to a spray bottle with salt. Then spray it onto the metal. I haven’t tried this myself, but most Google results show this option.
Another suggestion was to spray salt water onto the metal which makes sense considering it’s corrosive.
The method you choose depends on what you’re starting with and the result you want to get.
The metal effects paint has a surprisingly durable finish. I’ve had these chairs outside for weeks and the painted one is holding up well even after getting hit with outdoor elements like rain and wind.
What do you think? Can you tell which is the original?
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