"Suz" wrote in message
...

We got front gates made about 3 years ago and the finished gates powder
coated in black. The finish was fairly matt rather than high gloss,
and
they have been fine up until now. When the brighter evenings came
along,
I
began to notice they looked very dull and almost grey.

So tonight I went out, armed with a bucket with Flash in it and a
sponge
pot
scourer thing. I gave them a good wash but as they dried I realised
that
it
has made very little difference, apart from removing a bit of
grey-green
dust from around the bottom.

They almost look like an old car that needs T-Cut. Is this the case,
and
if
so, would T-Cut for black cars be off any use?

TIAAA
Suzanne


If you want glossy black, then give them a coat of Hammerite Enamel
Black.
Lasts for years, but looks cheap and cheesy on wrought iron gates, in my
personal opinion. Your gate were more than likely given a matt coat to
make
them look rich and antique. Were they?


I choose the matt black because the glossy black reminded me too much of
the
council's bins - and I agree is a bit cheesy too. But the problem is this
white 'bloom' that gives an extremely dull look and makes them look grey
rather than black. I don't want very shiny, but I would like them as
black
as possible. Maybe the glossy finish is more hard wearing?

Would Hammerite stick to powder coating?

And I am ****ed off as the whole point of the powder coating was to avoid
any painting. And it wasn't cheap as we had 7 individual bits to get
done.

Suz



The powder coating is expensive, but it does look great.

The Hammerite range comes in a matt black as well, so you could use that
instead of shiny gloss.