Iron

With iron you can create rolled blackened steel and you can also create benign non-corrosive red, orange and yellow rust.

Iron as a fresh metal is a lustrous silvery grey. The rolled steel look is an organic-looking mixture of the fresh iron with darker tones. A rolled steel iron liquid metal finish is created at Metalier using iron as a base and adding black wax and sometimes some black copper. Metalier technicians are expert at creating and copying the “movement” in rolled steel so that a piece of MDF with the finish is indistinguishable from the sheet variety.

It is somewhat ironic that rust which is destructive and is actually the corrosion of the metal should have become such a popular designer finish. The beauty of Metalier rust which is created with our various patinas is that, while it is real rust, it only affects the coating and does not destroy the substrate. It’s sort of like having your cake and eating it too. You can specify rust and know that the substrate will remain intact.

Metalier’s rust can be halted in process, neutralised and then sealed with our Nano Metal Clear Coat. This is essential in areas where the surface could be touched. As Metalier rust is real rust it is powdery and will get on clothes and skin. Our Nano Metal Clear Coat protects the rust and skin and clothes.

Iron is, by mass, the most common element on Earth forming much of Earth’s outer and inner core. It’s the fourth most common element on Earth’s crust. Maybe we like it so much because it’s familiar?