I have badly rusted gates and railings which I’ve painted with all sorts of stuff but with very poor results, help please! (G Meehan Clontarf).


There is now available to the general public a super method for treating rust on gates, railings, fire escapes, and so on.


This stuff , I am reliably informed, is used mostly by professional painters, decorators and also semi-state bodies like Dublin Corporation on many of the parks railings etc. Owatrol oil (O-WA-TROL) as it known, has many very useful applications, one of which has been found to be the treatment of rust.

(It also works great making oil based paint stick to sills, wall cappings, facia boards etc.)

To sort out the rust all you have to do is, apply the Owatrol oil with a brush or whatever all over the metal surface (even seemingly good areas) with particular emphasis on the big lumps of rust. Saturate those areas and leave for at least a few hours to soak in.

Owatrol works in a most unusual, but yet common sense way, i.e. it soaks right in through the rust into the base metal and forces out any hidden moisture and air, otherwise known as the food for rust.


Next, use a scraper to remove the heavy flakes of rust, brush away any loose particles, and you are ready to paint. No need for tedious wire brushing or sanding. It does not matter if you don’t paint right away, or even for several weeks after, as the Owatrol will have sealed up all the rust pores.


All you need to do now is apply a coat (or two) of any good quality oil based primer with about 25% Owatrol added to it, (this helps the primer level and flow out properly) Then finish by applying an oil based topcoat of any colour with about 10 to 15% Owatrol added for better flow and finish. Alternatively, two coats of a sister product called Owatrol Aluminium will give you a lovely, flexible silvery topcoat that will also last for years. This relatively simple exercise will result in a job that should outlast anything you’ve ever seen before. I used it on a rusty aerial bracket 4 years ago and it still looks as good today only for a little less shiny, but it held the rust back.

You should be able to pick up a tin in the more specialised paint outlets or hardwares or you could ask for details of your nearest stockist from the distributors: Tel 830 2226

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