protecting my rusty pedestal.

Published on by Quandie

If you’ll remember back, last year I painted an ugly old plaster pedestal using Dixie Belle’s Patina Paint.

You can find all of the details on that original makeover here.

I used the Iron paint and the Green spray to get a rusty looking finish on my pedestal.

I promised to keep you guys posted regarding how well this product stood up to outdoor exposure.  The pedestal was out in my garden all summer last year and come fall I was pleasantly surprised to note that it held up quite well even without any sort of protective top coat.

If anything, it had gotten even rustier looking (which is a good thing in my book).

Normally I would have been content to just leave it alone and put it back out in the garden this year (I stored it in my photo cottage for the winter), but I wanted to test out a relatively new Dixie Belle product called Patina Guard.

This is a top coat that was specially formulated to do several things.  First of all, it halts the patina-ing (OK, not a real word, but whatever) process.  As I mentioned, my pedestal continued to ‘rust’ over time.  If you don’t want that to happen with your piece, Patina Guard will prevent that.  Secondly, it prevents the patina from rubbing off onto things it comes into contact with.  For example, if you’ve used it on a bench and you want to be able to sit on it while wearing white pants.  Finally, it provides a more durable finish.

You simply apply 2 to 3 coats with a brush.  It couldn’t be easier to do, but FYI, this is not an ‘indoor friendly’ product.  It was quite stinky, so if you’re going to use it I recommend only doing so outside.

To be quite honest, I really rather wish I hadn’t used the Patina Guard on my pedestal.  Here is how it looks with the finish applied.

I preferred the more textured looking flat finish that the patina paint had before it was top coated with the Patina Guard.  The ‘after’ is just a little too shiny for my taste.  In my opinion, it looks a little less authentically rusty and more ‘painted’.

I think this is a personal preference thing.  Plus, for a garden ornament I’m not too worried about the rust rubbing off onto other things, so that part wasn’t necessary for me.  And, as I mentioned, this pedestal held up quite well outdoors last summer without a top coat, so I’m not sure I needed the extra durability.

Next time I think I’ll just skip the Patina Guard.  And there definitely will be a next time.  I absolutely love the Patina Paint products and hope to be making a few more rusty garden ornaments this summer!

In the meantime, I found a gorgeous potted fuchsia to put on the pedestal and I’ve tucked it behind my Sum & Substance hosta.

It still looks great, don’t you think?

Thank you to Dixie Belle for providing the products used in today’s blog post!

18 thoughts on “protecting my rusty pedestal.”

  1. Like you I liked it before the patina guard better, however it still looks awesome! I like old crusty rusty too, so it is personal preference for sure.

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  2. I agree, I like the more flat (less shiny) look. Although I think it will look a little less shiny as it sits in your garden. It is beautiful either way.

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  3. I would agree I like the “before “ look as well…but there are people that like a more refined fine furniture look and I think it’s perfect for them. Thanks for the review as sometimes we don’t get all the info in product descriptions. A great product for faux patina preservation.

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    1. That’s my thoughts on this too, Janice. Some will prefer to have the shiner, coated look. Just because it’s not right for me doesn’t mean that others out there won’t love this product!

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  4. Agree, it was better before, but maybe after the summer it will look a little more “real.” And we all appreciate that you were willing to test and share.
    By the way, the earlier treatment was probably closer to the way original columns appeared. Certainly the “reconstructed” Minoan palace in Crete has similar paint colors (Bronze Age) and the Parthenon was also painted. But the oh how the Romans loved their “fru-fru” highly decorated capitals.

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    1. LOL, yes, I think you’re right about that. I have seen some reconstructions of Greek statues that have some pretty outlandish paint schemes. Those things certainly look better after a few thousand years of aging 😉

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  5. I’m with you on the flat finish. What if you did a quick clear coat of matte spray? Maybe not worth the hassle for you, but could return it to the less shiny look with added protection… perhaps this is good feedback for Dixie Bell to make another finish in this same product.

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    1. Matte spray might do a better job of maintaining the look that I like. I wonder what the durability of matte spray is compared to this product. Maybe Dixie Belle was going for more durability? Hard to say. But for me I’ll just go back to leaving my rusty pieces unsealed. If I were to rate how important durability is to me on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be somewhere around 2 or 3. In general, it’s just not something that I worry about too much. That’s the benefit of buying things at garage sales or thrift stores … or in this case picking them up for free … (and I know you can relate to this), you really don’t need them to last forever. Just until the next cool thing comes along 😉

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    1. It’s plaster. If you click on the link (in the post above) back to the original makeover you can see what I did to prep it for the Patina Paint treatment if you’re wondering.

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  9. The pedestal turned out great! I tend to like the more flat finishes as well. Glad that it held up so well. I haven’t tried the patina paint but I think that it is definitely in my future. 😊

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