Over the years one of our popular custom finishes has been our Black Silver Wash. But recently we’ve had a number of requests for a lighter look, incorporating a Silver finish. Iron beds are beautifully adaptable into any setting with the proper finish. Some surroundings won’t accommodate a darker Black Silver Wash. Rooms that can’t handle a heavier bed appearance are usually young girls rooms or very light feminine ethe
real settings. A bed in that type of setting really needs to have a lighter airier appearance. That’s why we came up with the White Silver Wash w/ Subtle Distressed Castings. The subtle distressing on the castings gives just enough contrast so the castings and design of the bed can be appreciated. Too much distressing and your bed starts to appear heavy and overbearing.
The steps to a White Silver Wash couldn’t be much easier. First have your antique iron bed sandblasted. You’re going to be using acetone in one of the steps, and you don’t want to be rubbing off top coats of paint and exposing some foreign color. The next step after having it sandblasted is to have a coating of strong metal primer applied. It can be brushed on or sprayed. The quickest and easiest is spaying. We suggest Krylon Black Primer. After the primer has been sprayed and let dry completely, now you’ll need to spray a coating of Krylon Brite Silver. Be sure all these steps have 100% coverage. Now you’ll need to let those first two coating dry good and hard…..preferably in the sun or in a warm heated room. A suggestion is overnight. Now comes the White Wash. Use a regular White Semi-Gloss interior house paint, water base. Brush it on small sections of your bed, preferably one spoke or pole at a time. As soon as you’ve painted it on and gotten 100% coverage, wipe it all off with paper towels. You’ll find it’s impossible to get all the white out of the cracks and crevasses of the castings and joints…… but that’s what you’ll want. The amount of white you remove with the paper towel is at your discretion……… it can be more rubbed off or less. Whatever appeals to you.
Now , the last step. Your beautiful antique iron beds now appear to look like a new reproduction. The next step will change that. Get a can of Acetone from your hardware or paint store. Also get a good rag. Old terry-cloth wash clothes are perfect. Get a small bowl and put in enough acetone so you can dip the white rags in it. Now lightly start rubbing the face of the casting until you start seeing the black primer. This step is really a personal one. More or less paint removed from your iron bed will determine how authentic and old it looks.
I hope you’ve found this blog informative . I invite you to revisit my website
to answer any and all questions you might have about antique iron beds.
I also invite you to take a look at our company Face Book page for multiple photo albums on Custom Finishes, Canopy Conversions and a comprehensive “Before & After” King Conversions album.
