When the weather takes its course, anything on the way will have to bear the consequences. Wrought iron is one of the things will be most affected by the weather changes. One solution to restore their original beauty is by painting them. The paint coats will protect the wrought iron from heat and moisture, thus preventing them from cracking and rusting. Here\’s how you can prepare and paint wrought iron so it will lasts longer;
Things you need:
- Metal primer
- metal enamel
- china brush bristle
- wire brush
- paint thinner
- paint conditioner or Penetrol
Steps:
- Before starting to paint, you can cover the surrounding areas where you are painting the wrought iron. This coverage will help to protect the mess form the paints because paint tends to “spray” off brush when painting wrought iron.
- First, remove loose rust and paint by using wire brush to prepare the wrought iron. By removing the rust and loose paint, your wrought iron won\’t be rusting under the new paint. Eventually, this will provide smooth and better surface for new paints which avoid bubble through if painted over. Then, clean the spots on the wrought iron that were wire brushed by using the paint thinner. At the same time, you can clean the flat surfaces too.
- Next, make spot-prime the bare wrought iron using bristle brush and oil base metal primer. After painting, allow the wrought iron to dry thoroughly. You can also use the rustoleum primer instead of oil base metal primer.
- On top of the wrought iron, make a coat of paint by using oil base metal enamel and the bristle brush. If you are painting the same color to the wrought iron, one coat is enough. But, if you want to change the color more than once, it is advisable to paint two coats.
- You can do the painting works systematically. You paint one section at a time, so you don\’t loose track of where you are. It is easy to miss the spots on railings or furniture, this always happens when you want to repaint them the same color.
- To thin the enamel, use the paint conditioner at rate of 8 parts of enamel to 1 part of paint conditioner. The reason you are adding paint conditioner is to help the paint flow better on the wrought iron, less paint drippings and runs. Other than that, it will help as a rust restrainer.
Additional Reading:
http://www.ehow.com/articles_4375-outdoor-house-painting.html?sort=commentcount+desc
http://www.ehow.com/how_4746782_paint-wrought-iron.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkeigan/3410076716/
