How To Age Galvanized Metal

Sunday, March 25, 2018




I know we've all heard of the 'Ikea hack' but what about the 'Target Dollar Spot hack'. Maybe it doesn't roll off the tongue as easily but i'm officially making it a thing with today's post! I was recently wandering the aisles of my happy place aka Target when I came across this adorable metal watering can. I plopped it in my card and took her home with me to be displayed in our entryway. After walking past it a few times I felt it looked too new so I decided to try my hand at aging metal!



Ok, so how did I age this bucket? It was way too easy and I STILL managed to mess it up and have to try more than once (my impatience gets the best of me sometimes most time). Well, i'm here to tell you there is no skipping steps with this one! You must follow directions or your results will suffer!

Let's get started!

What you will need:



  • Metal piece (I used the metal watering can)
  • Steel wool pads
  • Toilet bowl cleaner (any brand)
Step 1: Prep your piece

The first thing you'll want to do is sand your piece using steel wool. I could not find straight steel wool so I used the pads pictured above and it worked find! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Without sanding the next steps may not work!

Before sanding

Step 2: Apply toilet bowl cleaner

Protect yourself and put on a pair of gloves and make sure you are in a well ventilated area! Then, this step is as simple as it sounds. You are simply going to apply the cleaner all over your metal piece. You can use a rag or the steel wool pad you used for the first step to rub it in. Once you have applied the toilet bowl cleaner to the entire piece you will let it sit for at least 4 hours.


Step 3: Rinse

Once you have let your piece sit for at least 4 hours you will wan to rinse off any residue left behind by the toilet bowl cleaner.

Step 4: Enjoy!

That's it! You're done! 


Isn't this such a fun project! And so versatile! You can use this on nearly anything metal to make it look aged!

Have you tried this technique before? Share your projects in the comments below!

As always, Thank you for visiting R&R at home!



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