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Aging Galvanized Metal

April 2nd, 2018 in projects     
annebell Suzanne Halverson, contributor
135 users recommend
This little bucket holds paint pens in my craft room. Ive never liked the shiny finish. Too new!
All it takes in a little of this.
And some time. Sunshine doesnt hurt, either. 
About an hour and a half later, this is what you get when you wash all the toilet bowl cleaner off. 
A much darker, less shiny finish. Beautiful!
This little bucket holds paint pens in my craft room. Ive never liked the shiny finish. Too new!

This little bucket holds paint pens in my craft room. I've never liked the shiny finish. Too new!
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Old galvanizaed pieces aren't always the easiest to find here. I found an easy and inexensive way to age and darken new galvanized pieces. The end result is a very authentic looking old finish. 

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Comments (16)

tanseygee writes: This is a new site to me. I'll certainly try your tip on how to un-shine my galvanized new stuff.
Posted: 10:22 pm on June 29th
dmfuller writes: Has anyone used this on Rustoleum's Bright Galvanizing Compound? Posted: 6:38 am on May 26th
Paola writes: Acid is the culprit. There are different ways to age galvanized metal. The easiest way is to put a 50/50 mix of water & white vinegar, with a Tbsp of salt, in a spray bottle. Spray the metal and scrub it with a brush or steel wool. The fumes are very strong as it interacts with the zinc coating on the metal, so do this outside. Let it sit outside for a couple hours, spraying it a couple more times. Sunlight is even better. If you want to hurry things along, you can add bleach to the mixture. But be very careful and only do this outside. The fumes are strong! Keep children and pets away from it. When the metal has reached the patina you like, rinse it off clean. It should look the same for a long time if you keep it indoors. If you put it outside, it will continue to age naturally and look really old. Posted: 2:40 pm on April 14th
AurorA writes: Thanks for sharing this-! Posted: 7:05 am on November 23rd
Kmdeland writes: Thank you for the idea. I used gun blueing and it make it a little darker then I wanted.
Posted: 4:20 am on November 6th
paterd writes: I love it! Wonder if that will work on my metal chain link fence posts which look too new compared to my rusty gate. I'm going to try it! Believe it or not, I have plenty of the buckets, pretty easy to find around Nebraska. Posted: 4:45 am on September 25th
Linda writes: Great results! I will definitely try it. Whatever gave you the idea?
Posted: 3:20 pm on August 12th
CleverJunk writes: Thanks for the tip! Can't wait to try it. Posted: 10:01 pm on August 4th
JunkyTeacher writes: Thank you so much for this tip! I have 10 buckets I need to age for my daughter's wedding and was wondering how to do it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Posted: 10:15 pm on August 2nd
KIMMER writes: Awesome! Posted: 7:02 am on August 2nd
annebell writes: No, I think it's the acid in the toilet bowl cleaner. Most of them have some sort of acid in them. Whatever it is, it works! Posted: 9:39 pm on August 1st
homeroad writes: Oh my goodness!! Thank you for this. I have so many things I could try it on... Do you think it is the bleach in the Lysol?
Susan
Homeroad.net Posted: 4:18 pm on July 31st
georgiamoon writes: Well, this is super good news. This could revolutionize the way we look at buckets!! New...who cares! Posted: 3:38 pm on July 31st
JunkArchitect writes: All I need to say is...THANKS...!

Jim
Posted: 9:56 am on July 31st
Bec4 writes: What fantastic results--I can't wait to try this, thanks for sharing! Posted: 8:15 am on July 31st
sandyrae writes: So happy that you shared this. Old buckets with natural patina are getting very difficult to find.
Thanks!
Sandy Posted: 7:51 am on July 31st
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