Friday 8 May 2015

Experiments with Metallic Spray Paint

DIY Metallic Spray Paint

So, I realise I'm a little late to the party when it comes to metallic spray paint. And not just 'fashionably-late' late, but more of a 'there's no nibbles left and people are starting to leave' late. I truly don't know what's taken me so long to try out this Pinterest favourite, but it wasn't until I rediscovered a lot of items I'd collected solely for the purpose of spraying them metallic that I finally decided to give it a go. Here are my thoughts about the way it turned out...

DIY Metallic Paint Glasses Knitting Toys

-It was a lot messier than I first expected. Even with a large area of newspaper put down, and having used masking tape to stencil out my area, it was still quite fiddly.

-I'm glad I payed a little extra for a higher quality spray paint. It was by no means extortionately priced at £3 for a small can, and the quality of the finish is much better than other, cheaper spray paints I've used in the past.

-Short, smaller sprays were more effective than one, long spray when it came to coverage. Shorter sprays were also far easier to control too.

-Nail varnish remover was a saviour. Seriously, it was so easy to get the spray paint onto areas and objects that I didn't want it on, but nail varnish remover did a great job of wiping it off. It worked fine on my plastic and wooden objects, but I think the safest method is just to remove any items that you don't want spattered with spray paint safely away from your spraying area.

- I should have waited longer for the paint to dry before removing the masking tape. A couple of my lines are a little smudged, and this could have been avoided if I'd just waited an extra 5 minutes,

-Of course the minute you set up your spraying station is the exact moment your cat comes running bumbling over to investigate what you're doing.

-Overall, I found my end results to be mixed. On some objects, I thought the metallic spray paint worked really well - particularly the tips of my wooden knitting needles (very scandi-chic, non?). It also worked a treat on little plastic toys which I'd saved out of cheap Christmas crackers to make pendants out of (I think the little car is particularly sweet). However, on other objects it either didn't apply very well, or I simply didn't like the end result. The arms of my sunglasses fall into the latter category - the metallic spray paint applied very well, but I kind of think that the end result cheapens them a little.


So, after giving it a try, I've got mixed feelings about metallic spray paint. The results are a little hit and miss, and the process is far more faffy than a lot of Pinterest tutorials would have you believe, but I'm glad I gave it a try all the same. I can certainly see the appeal of it, especially when used to DIY a little home decor, but I think I'll need a little convincing before I start spraying everything I own!

What about you? Have you tried metallic spray paint - what did you think of it?

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