5 Easy Steps & Items Needed For Painting A Metal Filing Cabinet
If you have an old metal filing cabinet at your home or office, it will definitely create hurdle for you when it comes to having a more storage space due to the reason that it does'nt match your decor. In order to make a metal filing cabinet match your decor, you can easily repaint it. To paint a metal filing cabinet, you first need to collect certain items & then go through all the steps carefully:
Items Needed
- Drop Cloths & Respirator
- Cloth, Painter's Tape & Paint
- Gloves & 220- Or 320-Grit Sandpaper
- Paint Thinner & Spray Primer
Step 1: Prepare Your Space
First of all, you need to protect your floor by covering it with drop cloths & make sure that the working place is well-ventilated due to the reason that you will be using aerosol-based spray paint. You also need to use gloves as well as a full respirator mask in order to save your lungs from harmful vapors & chemical fumes when spraying.
Step 2: Prep The Filing Cabinet
Now, with the help of a 220 or 320-grit sandpaper, sand down the surface of the metal file cabinet in order to make it ready to acknowledge the new paint. New paint usually adheres perfectly to smoothly sanded already present paint better than it does to a spray-on primer or to bare metal. The sandpaper also eliminates any kind of oils from your hands that may have been passed onto the cabinet which may restrain with the paint. After the sanding process is done, cleanse the cabinet with the help of a clean, dry cloth. Then, take another cloth with a small amount of paint thinner on it to eliminate the residual dust from the metal surface left behind. You also need to detach any hardware from the file cabinet like handles or knobs & lock & if in case it is not possible to detach them, then you can simply wrap them with the help of masking tape to safeguard them from the paint.
Step 3: Use Primer, If Needed
The only reason that you need to apply a primer is due to the fact that the new paint adheres to the metal perfectly, accordingly, you need to apply primer to any bare metal spots. You can select to apply primer before painting or select a paint that already has primer mixed in. If you are using a different primer, then you need to buy a spray primer, as it is much harder to non-automatic paint metal without leaving brush marks. Metal paint primer is easily available at most home improvement stores without any problem.
Step 4: Use The Right Paint
Spray paint is regarded as one of the best paints when it comes to painting a metal file cabinet, as this type of paint will assist in preventing the rust to appear on the surface. You have to spray in light & equal coats & make sure to buy enough paint to perform the painting job. Instead of spray a huge amount of paint on only a one go, you need to apply two or three coats of paint in order to cover your metal filing cabinet. The finish coat will need at least three to five executions, all very light and fine. The first execution of paint is frequently called the “tack” coat and should be very light. It does not even have to completely cover the cabinet, it offers a “sticky” light coat that succeeding coats stick to well. Another coat can be applied more slowly & very lightly. If in case you try to apply the paint too laboriously, it will sag and run.
Step 5: Use The Proper Technique
Spray technique is one of the best techniques to use on the metal filing cabinet. Slow down the trigger on the spray can and paint at least three inches of air before the spray contacts the surface, then proceed towards the end of the cabinet and leave the trigger off. Now move your hand in the opposite direction before slowing down the trigger again, then make your pass beyond the cabinet and leave the trigger again. It is an on/off, left to right, right to a left movement that performs the job perfectly.