Artwork is an addition to the overall aesthetic of your home. It is pleasant to have them either indoors or outdoors. However, when placed outdoor, it serves as a point of attraction for visitors or neighbors.
Unfortunately, weather elements can cause the art to degrade with time, especially when made with metal. These are some of the ways to prevent rust on outdoor metal art:
Choose The Best Metal For Outdoor Sculptures
Actual prevention begins with choosing the right material for the metal art. This will ensure you don’t spend too much time on maintenance.
One of the materials you can choose is Aluminum; it is unarguably the best metal to prevent rusting. For more protection, you can use powder coating on the metal art. In addition to the protection, it will also help you customize the look of the artwork.
Protective Clear Coat
Generally, placing your metal art outdoors will expose it to elements like oxygen and water. These elements will result in the oxidization of the metal and, consequently, rust. With your metal art outdoors, rust is unavoidable; therefore, you need to continually care for your art.
If your metal art is outdoors and frequently exposed to air, rain, sunlight, and snow, you should apply a protective clear coat once every year.
Removing Dust
Dust is inevitable; it can come from any source; people, furniture, and even clothing. It spreads through the air and accumulates on metal surfaces over time. It doesn’t matter how careful you are; you will always find dust in your metal art. Therefore, it constantly needs to be cleaned to prevent accumulation for a long time.
If you want to get rid of dust, use a soft clean cloth. It is important the cloth is soft since you don’t want to scratch the surface of your metal art. Removing dust requires no expertise; however you need to be consistent with it to avoid dust building up.
Keep It Covered
As mentioned earlier, continuous exposure to sun and other weather elements causes rusting. Even while your metal art is coated, water can drop on surfaces that are not protected, causing oxidation. Also, droplets on the metal surface will focus the sunlight on the spot allowing moisture to seep through. This will lead to corrosion of the metal beneath the paint.
You can avoid this problem by having a privacy cover over your artwork. You can either place it under a roofed area or erect a roof to cover the metal artwork. This will allow you to protect your metal artwork from weather elements. If you cannot do this, you can go for a metal artwork cover like a canvas tarp.
Use Grease
Grease is another way to prevent water from seeping into your metal artwork. This is advisable, especially if your artwork has moving parts. The oil in the grease will serve as an extra layer of protection by repelling the water. Using grease will help you lubricate the artwork and protect it from moisture damage.
The disadvantage of grease is that it attracts dust. So if you are using this method to protect your artwork, you must be ready to have a cleaning routine. While cleaning, ensure you don’t use cleaning products that can break the oil.
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