Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Making New Galvanized Buckets Look Old

Old buckets are very popular in decorating these days and I sell a lot of old buckets.  Sometimes I'm lucky enough to pick them up at yard sales for a dollar or two, but usually at the flea markets even the smaller ones are $7.
So when someone told me they found some large buckets at The 99 Cent Store for $1.99, I bought a whole bunch of them.  The problem was they were shiny and new looking.  The size was great though at 12 inches high and 11 inches across the top.  Even better was that they had handles with the wooden grip on them.
I looked on Pinterest for how to make new galvanized metal look old and I found a tutorial for using Lysol toilet bowl cleaner.  I followed the directions which said to leave the Lysol on the metal for 30 minutes and rinse off, but at 30 minutes I found no change.
Here's how I aged my buckets.  I scuffed them up with 100 grit sandpaper just to scratch up the shiny surface.  Then I took a scrubby sponge and used the rough side to spread the Lysol all over the inside and out of the buckets.  Don't forget the lip and the handle.
After 30 minutes there was no change so I left them to sit.  I came back over an hour later and I could see something was definitely happening so I went on about my day and after about four hours, I was getting some nice patina.  The problem was there were still some shiny parts, probably where I missed a spot when wiping on the Lysol.  I did not clean the buckets at this point, but rather put the Lysol on my sponge and reapplied it to the buckets inside and out.  The following morning I went outside to check, and the buckets were nicely aged.  At this point I put them in the utility sink and rinsed them well and dried them.  If you're working outside near any landscaping, I would not recommend hosing the buckets because you could get run off that would damage the nearby plant life.

This was an easy project that required a little more patience than I had anticipated but it was worth it.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

13 comments:

  1. That is a good idea..glad it worked even if it took longer than
    predicted. xo Diana

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  2. Your galvanized bucket turned out nicely. I will have to remember this technique, and go checkout the .99 store for galvanized buckets. (-;

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  3. What a great tip and well worth the extra effort. I think I'll be making a trip to the .99cent store before this idea catches on. Thanks for sharing at Vintage Inspiration Party.

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  4. What a great idea, Maggie! I love vintage pails, and your new one really does look old! Who knew toilet bowl cleaner would work! Thank you for sharing:)

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  5. Maggie, I love this! It worked perfect

    Carol

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  6. Nice buckets for that price! I should check it out. May I ask which 99 cent store you got them from please? There are dollar tree stores, dollar general stores and quite a few others. We have $1 stores but I haven't heard of 0.99 cent store specifically if that's the actual name of it. Regarding Lysol, I am wondering if Lysol with bleach would have worked faster. I say this because once I bought that accidentally and it corroded the ceramic toilet quickly! Another one is CLR liquid that might work although one must be careful with chemical cleaners.

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  7. I want to clarify that ceramic is not metal to corrode and yet, ceramic lost its luster in a matter of minutes when Lysol with bleach (that claimed to be safe for toilet cleaning) fell on the seat.

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  8. Oh may, I love how this came out. What a great technique. Thanks! ~ Rose, www.FineCraftGuild.com

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  9. Earlier this month I googled how to age copper wire screening. One suggestion was a strong mixture of Miracle Grow and water. I decided to try this with 2 brand new shiny galvanized buckets and it is working like a charm plus I don't need rubber gloves. The only thing you need to do is maybe rough the bucket up a bit. I did it on one and not the other and got the same results though. ALSO if you want to use the used miracle grow mixture in your yard you will need to water it down quite a bit as this is too strong to just pour on your plants.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Does any other toilet bowel cleaner work? I have clorox brand in my house so thought I might try it first???

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  12. what a nice post! if you will need more buckets just contact me http://apromera.com, we have a lot of buckets and other pots. Generally very cool and creative done) looks very stylish, i think i ll try this method. Lysol is only suitable? or other toilet bowl cleaners are available


    And once again thank you for a good method of decorative finishes. Very interesting!

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