

This process gave the new horseshoe a nice copper colored patina, and I love that some of the bluish-grey color of the iron is coming through the rust. It was getting dark outside so I just let it sit overnight and the next day this is what my horseshoe looked like, next to metal that’s been rusting for years: This is what mine looked like right after I removed it from the mixture – I did this all in less than 10 minutes. You’ll see that it’s a bit rusty but don’t worry if it doesn’t look exactly the way you want, it actually rusts more as it dries. You don’t want to wipe it too hard or it could remove some of the patina. The good news is that it worked.Īfter a few minutes, I swished the horseshoe around in the solution to sort of rinse off the salt and then patted it dry with a paper towel.
#Forced patina aluminum how to#
I originally came across this post on how to make metal rust and planned to follow it to a tee, but then I became all impatient and excited and just did my own thing. I didn’t really follow any specific recipe for this. We had Himalayan salt, which may work, but I wasn’t sure how much I’d use so we just grabbed a big container of table salt for $1.
#Forced patina aluminum plus#
Plus you probably have everything you need to try this out right now. I gotta tell ya, making metal rust in fast forward was even more fun than I anticipated. Rust forms when these three elements combine and create an electrochemical reaction.” – What you’ll need to make metal rust “Three things must be present for rusting to occur: iron, oxygen, and water. You can see what the horseshoes looked like before adding rust in the photo below: There were different kinds so we picked up the ones that are supposedly “lightweight”. I was able to pick up a 4 pack of horseshoes for $8 at a local tractor supply store. Go figure.Įven something as small as a horseshoe all of a sudden seems to weigh a whole heck of a lot more than I ever realized. Anyway, since my mission to find antique horseshoes was a fail I decided it was time to fall back on plan B, buy new horseshoes and make them look old. Naturally, I’m drawn to overly heavy wood and iron. In case you didn’t know, traveling in an RV means you have to be extra careful about how much weight you add to the motorhome, and every little thing adds up. I did find a couple at a local antique shop but there were only two (I wanted at least three), and they didn’t have holes in them which we wanted to make it easy to attach to our reclaimed wood. I can’t tell you how many times I came across rusty horseshoes while we were living in Georgia, but I wasn’t quite ready for my project so I kept telling myself I’d get them later.įast forward several months and now that we’re ready for the project I can’t find old horseshoes anywhere! Well, that’s only partially true, I did find some online but wanted them NOW because I’m impatient. There’s a project we’ve had in mind for our RV, all we needed was some antique horseshoes. Luckily there are ways to make new items look old, and today I’m sharing how you can make metal rust in less than 10 minutes! How to Make Metal Rust However, there are times when those reclaimed materials are out of budget, or even just difficult to find. There’s something to be said about pieces that speak their history through their old age and rusty patina, and it’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to mountain homes and log cabins. I don’t know about you but my heart skips a beat when I come across reclaimed wood, rusty metal, and forged iron. How to Make Metal Rust in Less than 10 Minutesĭisclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase we (or those featured in this post) may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
