Paint already painted metal without stripping it… You have a beautiful piece of indus furniture just recovered in flea market and you want to see it in the house as soon as possible? Here are some tips
So there are indeed cases where you can repaint directly without stripping. It’s possible to do it on a lot of old furniture where the paint holds very well.
Painting an already painted piece of furniture
There’s nothing wrong with painting your furniture. You just need to take a few precautions before putting on your favorite color.
First, make sure the base paint is holding up. Take a scraper or a spatula and try to remove layers of paint. If you have trouble, if it comes off in tiny bits, you’re in luck. You will save time.
Before painting your furniture, give the original paint a good sanding to help it stick.
You will be told to take a fine grain paper (like 100-120). Personally, I regularly work with 40-80 grit paper. I just press less hard to get the same result.
It’s up to you to see what suits you best.
A shot of White Spirit to degrease the whole. IMPORTANT for a perfect cling.
Now that you have prepared your hook, check if there is no trace of rust. It would be a shame to see a rust stain go through your fresh paint.
And I guarantee you that rust is pretty amazing when you feed it fresh paint 😉
If you have any rust spots, scrape them off and give it a shot of rust remover. I use Owatrol rust remover when needed. It’s effective and you can make a lot of furniture with only one can. Or, cheaper, you can use the spray can.
Let it dry for a few hours.
Apply a first white undercoat to make the old paint disappear.
And if you have chosen a good quality paint and darker, you can go at once … without undercoating.
That’s it, you have repainted your furniture.
Other case:
Removing rust before painting
Not everyone wants to waste time doing this. But I’ve taken the habit of stripping every piece of furniture that I refinish (except in the exceptional case of a superb patina that I don’t want to touch).
In this case, I strip with a grinder and brush (link to the stripping tutorial)
Use a brush with fine bristles:
- A shot of anti-rust.
- Undercoat and paint.
You’ll have to roll up your sleeves, but the finished look is often nicer than painting directly over paint. For a simple reason.
To hide a coat of paint, you had to put on a good layer. Visually, it’s a bit of a mess.
Whereas with a bare piece of furniture, you can do effects and make it look better visually.
You can even leave some spaces bare for even more personality. A good petrol blue with metal lines is not bad at all 😉
It’s up to you to see what works best for you.
And we come in the precise case where the rust of time has left beautiful effects that we do not want to remove.
Painting directly on rust
Painting over rust is not recommended. But here you are, you have recovered a beautiful cabinet with a side that has taken a beating outside.
But you like the material side and the relief effects.
Despite everything, the rust color is not really your thing.
Don’t worry, protect your furniture quickly with one of the anti-rust products mentioned above. And paint!
You can also use today paints that already incorporate a rust inhibitor like this one.
Paint directly on the rust
As a fan of rust, I haven’t yet had the courage to hide this color with another one.
But I would use a paint that is light enough to bring out some nice effects that we will talk about in a future article.
It’s up to you. And don’t hesitate if you have any tips or questions for the readers. The comments are there for that.
