How to paint rusted metal.

This post is sponsored by Rust-Oleum®. All opinions are 100% mine.

This amazing vintage clothing rack has been in my backyard for 2 years. It’s so COOL! But, I couldn’t decide what to do with it. Plus, I knew since it was rusty, it needed to be refinished correctly, or the rust would corrode the new paint job quickly. Painting metal that is rusty can feel tricky, but it’s totally easy I promise. 

How to paint something that is Rusty-13

Can you believe how good this bad boy looks now!?! I love that I saved it from the dumpster and the landfill too. 

Vintage Clothing Rack Makeover Patio Decor Ideas-2

Luckily Rust-Oleum has the perfect products to help with rusty metal. Stops-Rust paint is made for that.  Sidenote: did you know that Rust-Oleum was founded accidentally by a sea captain that noticed that fish oil stopped erosion on his metal deck? I think that story is awesome!

How to paint Rusty Metal:

Step 1: Make sure the item is clean. If you need to, wash with detergent and let dry completely.

How to paint something that is Rusty-57

Step 2: Sand it with 220 grit sand paper to smooth the surface and rough it up a little. If you have larger pieces of rust, you may need to use a wire brush to remove those. 

How to paint something that is Rusty-64

Step 3: Clean off the dust with a lint free cloth. Or you can blow off the dust with a high power air blower. 

Step 4: Prime with Stops Rust Primer

How to paint something that is Rusty-80

Step 5: Let the primer dry completely.

Step 6: Coat completely with Stops Rust enamel in the color of your choice. The color I choose was a new warmish gray/taupe color called Cambridge Stone. It’s such a good neutral color! 

TIPS:

Don’t forget to shake your can. It makes a huge difference, and is absolutely necessary.

Spray two or more light coats a few minutes apart.

Recoat within one hour or after 48 hours. 

How to paint something that is Rusty-90

The vintage clothing rack is looks completely new! 

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Projects like these are my favorite. It’s like giving something a new life, and all it took was a little love and paint to do it. 

How to paint something that is Rusty-13 How to paint something that is Rusty-83 How to paint something that is Rusty-94
Vintage Clothing Rack Makeover Patio Decor Ideas-23

Although I cannot be 100% sure, we were told that this old rack was once a ZCMI Clothing Rack from the early 1900s. Now the rack has a new beginning and is definitely a focal point in any courtyard, backyard, or patio. 

Vintage Clothing Rack Makeover Patio Decor Ideas-17

Vintage Clothing Rack Makeover Patio Decor Ideas-9

As always Sugar our Shih Tsu posed for the picture. HAHA

Vintage Clothing Rack Makeover Patio Decor Ideas-19

These are the products we used for our transformation. 

Rusty Metal Primer Cambridge Stone

ENTER TO WIN: If you have a transformation you would like to share, post it on Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtags #stopsrust and #inwiththeold to enter to win new colors and finishes for your next project and $100 gift card to any Rust-Oleum retailer. {Go to stopsrust.com for official rules}.

I hope you like my transformation! 

xoxo,

Brooke

 

 

 

Published on May 10, 2017

4 thoughts on “How to paint rusted metal.”

  1. What a great repurposing idea! I have a very small version of this, not quite the same, and I thought I would hang necklaces on it but I don’t have a lot of necklaces right now LOL. So I’m going to do a spin off of what you’ve suggested here and hang smaller-sized plants and then put it on one of my tables outside on my back porch,as it is only about a foot in the in n height. Thank you for the inspiration!

  2. This is a failed process. If left outside, rust will return within 3 years. It would have been better to do nothing and “enjoy” its “patina”. The metal here has too many sharpe edges, nooks and crannies. This metal should have been sandblasted by a local car paint shop…or, at the very least convert the rust, after sanding off much as possible, with “Ospho”(phosphoric acid).

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