Painting metal furniture can be a great project that breathes new life into an old piece of furniture. If you’ve ever wondered how to paint metal furniture, look no further. We will break down what you need, how to set yourself up for success, and the steps to completing the project.
Before reading on to learn how to paint metal furniture, make sure to remember some simple rules that apply to any project: the better your prep work, the better the finished project, always wear hand and eye protection, and only use tools you are comfortable with.
Tools and Preparation
As you will have to strip down your furniture before repainting it, you will always want mouth and nose protection, such as the Breath Buddy Pro Respirator, to prevent yourself from breathing in any harmful debris.
Your first step in learning how to paint metal furniture is gathering the right tools and ensuring you are comfortable using them. You will need a variety of tools, and your project may require you to get others (such as wrenches if your furniture is bolted together), so make sure to look over the piece of furniture you are painting before buying your tools.
Tools Needed
The tools you will need when learning how to paint metal furniture are cleaning products and rags, sanders, tape, primer, paint, and a finish if you want to apply one.
Acetone
No matter what you are painting, you must first clean it thoroughly. Using a product such as Klean Strip Acetone will make quick work of cleaning. You can use it with paper towels, but we suggest using a rag so it does not fall apart as you are wiping it down.
A good cleaning will help make sure you get a nice even coat when painting metal furniture.
Sander, Sandpaper, Wire Brush
You will need sanders, sanding blocks or sandpaper, and possibly wire brushes. We suggest using an electric sander rather than by hand as it will help keep your sanding even and is much faster. The Dewalt Random Orbit Sander is a great product that will help remove all the old paint and material to leave you with bare metal.
You will also need a variety of sandpapers, varying in grits. We suggest using 60 grit if you have to remove multiple layers of old paint or 80 / 100 grit if you only have one or two to remove. You will want to have finer sandpaper as well, which we will use later in the process. We suggest keeping 240, 320, and 400 grit on hand.
The sandpaper can also be used for tight corners where an orbital sander won’t work. Remember that removal of old material is a key part of the prep work, so it needs to be done thoroughly.
Painter’s Tape
If the furniture you are working on has parts you want to keep unpainted, such as hinges, sliding rails, cabinet knobs, or other pieces, you will want to get painter’s tape to cover them.
We suggest Frog Tape when learning how to paint metal furniture. It is the most user-friendly painter’s tape because of its medium adhesion and ease of cutting to shape.
Primer and Paint
Next, you need your primer, paint, and finish. We generally suggest getting the same brand for all three. Primer will not only help you get better paint adhesion but also will help prevent rust from forming and spreading in the future.
Rust-Oleum Clean Metal Primer is formulated specifically for painting metal. Rust-oleum also sells a huge variety of spray paint colors and finishes, such as their Gloss Protective Enamel which gives a nice shiny finish. These are great paint products for painting metal furniture.
Prep Work
If you take anything away from learning how to paint metal furniture, it should be that preparation dictates the quality of your finished product. The prep work we outline is your key to success and will take the most time in the project, but it’s well worth the extra effort to have a great finished piece of furniture.
Cleaning
Your first step in prep work associated with learning how to paint metal furniture is to clean the furniture thoroughly. As mentioned above, cleaning is key to getting rid of dust, debris, loose old paint, and loose rust.
The best way to do this is to pour some acetone on a rag and start scrubbing. There is no replacement for good old-fashioned elbow grease. Wipe down very thoroughly a few times. The acetone dries very quickly, so by the time you are done, you should be able to circle back to where you started and wipe down again.
It may be easier to take apart your furniture for this project, so this would be a good time to do so. Remove any drawers, knobs, or hinges you want to, and break it down into as many pieces as you are comfortable with.
Taking pictures as you go is a great way to ensure you have a reference point for putting it back together.
Once you have fully wiped down your metal furniture, make sure it is dry and you are ready to move to the next step in the process of learning how to paint metal furniture!
Taping and Sanding
Taping
If your furniture cannot be disassembled, or there are parts you want to keep unpainted, your next step in learning how to paint metal furniture is to tape it off. Using the painter’s tape makes this easy. Just cut pieces that fit what you want to keep clear of paint and stick it on.
Be precise! If your tape has frayed edges or is not tight, it will cause paint to get where you don’t want it.
If you are taping off something with hard edges, such as a hinge or drawer guide rail, use a razor blade or sharp knife to cut the tape to size once it is stuck on.
Another great trick is to use the handle of a hard plastic toothbrush and rub it along the edges of what you are taping off – this will cause a perforated line to form, making it easy to rip cleanly.
Sanding
Finally, we have gotten to a point in our guide on how to paint metal furniture where you will see some progress! Sanding is key to paint adhesion, an even surface, and the longevity of your project, so make sure to be extremely thorough.
For flat surfaces, use the orbital sander to make quick work of material removal. Sanding is all about removing material while ensuring an even surface.
If you sand too much in one spot, that spot will be lower than the rest of the piece of furniture, so make long, even passes. You shouldn’t have to use too much pressure, as the sander will do most of the work for you.
Using 80-grit sandpaper on your sander, continue until you see bare metal. Old paint and surface rust should come off easily with 80-grit sandpaper, but deeper rust will take a wire brush (more on that below).
When it comes to corners, rounded legs, or other odd shapes, an orbital sander will not work as well. You will want to take the sandpaper and do it by hand, using elbow grease but even pressure throughout. Again you want to get this down to the bare metal.
If you have heavy rust in an area that cannot be sanded off, use a wire brush to remove it. The easiest way to do this is to use a drill-attached wire brush, such as this Wire Brush for Drill Set, that has multiple sizes that will fit any angle or shape.
When removing rust, you want to let the drill do most of the work and not apply too much pressure. In-between wire brushing, you can wipe down with acetone. Once you are down to the bare metal, you will be ready to move on to finer sandpaper.
Using fine-grit sandpaper is the last sanding step for prep work in our guide on painting metal furniture. The 80-grit sandpaper will create naturally uneven surfaces, even with perfect form, so finer-grit sandpaper is used to even this out.
From the 80-grit, you should move up in numerical order to either 100 or 240 grit, then 320. The 400-grit sandpaper can be saved for later. You can go over the areas you wire brushed as well with these finer sandpapers to make sure they are all even.
Primer, Paint, and Finish
We are finally at the step in our guide on how to paint metal furniture where you can start painting! Make sure to give the furniture one last wipe down with acetone and a rag, and ensure your furniture is completely dry.
Set your furniture up so you can get all sides painted in one coat – either by hanging it or standing it upright. Even coats applied at the same time are going to make the finished product much nicer, so you want to position the furniture in a way that gives you full access to all sides.
Primer
The method for painting metal furniture will be the same for primer and paint, but what you do in-between coats changes slightly.
If you have never used spray paint before, start by practicing on a piece of cardboard so you know how much paint comes out and how fast you need to move in order to avoid splotchy sections.
You will want to shake the can for 60 seconds before you begin and for 15-30 seconds after about ten passes, or whenever it starts to come out unevenly. When painting metal furniture, an even coat is key.
With your Rustoleum primer shaken well, start by spraying in horizontal, overlapping lines as you move down the furniture, making sure not to miss anywhere. You want to spray a line, let go of the nozzle, then make another pass and let go – keep repeating until it is fully painted.
Spray paint is great because it drys very quickly. Once you have done your first coat of primer, wait around 10-20 minutes (depending on temperature and moisture) and see if the paint is still wet.
If it is not, use the 400 grit sandpaper (or steel wool) and very lightly sand the fresh primer. This gives the next coat something to stick to. Be careful not to oversand as you will rip away the primer you just put down.
Repeat this process 1-3 times until you have a nice primer coat with no metal showing through.
Paint
After your primer has fully dried and cured (check the spray paint can to see full curing time), you can move on to applying your Rustoleum Spray Paint.
This is going to be very similar to the primer – make nice, even passes with a well-mixed can. You should sand after your first coat, but you do not need to sand after the second coat. We recommend three coats total.
When you spray your first coat of actual paint, you may notice that it does not fully conceal the primer. That is okay, do not go back and spray more!
The first coat of paint frequently does not cover everything but it will be caught on the second coat. If, after three coats, your furniture is still not painted thoroughly you may want to apply one last coat – it should not take more than four.
Finish
A finish, such as the Rust-Oleum Clear Enamel, can give your furniture a very nice glossy, matte, or other kind of finished look. These sprays are a little different than spray paint in that you only are going to do one coat, and you need to be very light on your sprays. If you use too much, it will show.
When painting metal furniture with a finish, do very light passes overlapping as with the spray paint. You do not need to sand it ahead of time and you definitely do not want to sand it afterward, especially because you should only need one coat. If applied correctly, it will give the furniture a very nice finish that will make your new paint job pop.
The last step in painting metal furniture is to reassemble your piece once the paint has fully cured, which usually takes about 24 hours. Your new piece of freshly painted metal furniture is ready to be used and displayed!
Painting Metal Furniture
Painting metal furniture is a great project to revitalize or restore an old piece. If you follow the steps we have outlined in this how to paint metal furniture guide, you should be set up for success. The key is good prep work, so follow those steps carefully.
If you got a little carried away with the spray paint, we have tips for getting spray paint off your skin.
