Tips for spray painting metal

We're often asked at the shop how to paint different surfaces.

This week Heather decided to share some tips for painting metal, and tried out a new product in the meantime.

Here is a silver plated tray and teapot in a pre-makeover BEFORE photo.  They were tarnished and had some rust; polish couldn't cure what ailed these two.

Here is how they turned out AFTER...

The most important thing to know when painting metal:  1) make sure your metal piece and paint are room temperature or warmer or the paint will not stick properly.

For the trays, Heather used Rustoleum Universal paint and primer in one (in white).  For the teapot, she used Rustoleum spray paint in pistachio.  We've chosen to focus on spray paint today, but we've also done this project using Kilz primer with Annie Sloan chalk paint (we love Chateau Grey and Antoinette Pink) and Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax on top to seal it.

 
The second most important thing to know when painting metal is:  2) be sure the paint dries fully before you do any distressing or try to fix paint drips.  Paint on metal will take longer to dry, so follow the directions and make sure you wait before touching anything or you will smear off the paint (not sand it off) and you will have to start over.

This tray is still way too wet to do start distressing.

So Heather took a break and baked some cookies.  And when she was done, she had a dry tray and some cookies!

NOTE:  it's tough to see, but the cookies are sitting on doilies and the trays will not be for food use.   The inside of the teapot is not painted.  We're planning on putting several of these trays on the wall in a grouping.  The details really pop out with a light distressing and will look really interesting on the wall over a desk or console table.

Optional, but helpful...Heather goes over the tray with Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax on top to seal it.  This product is all natural & helps protect the paint job.  Heather mentioned that Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax is one of only a few waxes that stays true in color.  Some waxes you buy in the hardware store will yellow the finish over time (not with all paint brands or waxes, but many times with the lighter colors like whites & greys).  This product has been her new favorite for sealing painting projects, especially when working with light colors.

Two more ideas for this project...
1)  You can use a fine grit sandpaper to sand off any details you want to distress and highlight.

2)  If you want to get a crackle on the finish, as the piece is drying, Heather placed the tray on a heater to get the cracks to form in the finish.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you have additional questions about spray painting metal, just leave us a comment and Heather will try to answer them or we'll do another full DIY post!