Three Best Brass Spray Paints for DIY Makeovers
October 12, 2021
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Comparing six metallic brass and gold spray paints to find the perfect brass finish, and my top three picks!
Brass and gold finishes have been back in style in a big way for years. They aren't going anywhere soon!
I'm talking about the warmer, more varied brass tones that look great on light fixtures and accessories by the way, not the super shiny brass that many of us have had on our door knobs or light fixtures over the years. :)
I was on a rampage in our last house to get rid of the shiny brass fixtures. I actually don't mind that look as much now, but the warmer brass tones feel more realistic for sure.
I've wanted to compare some brass and gold spray paints for awhile, so over the past couple of months I've gathered six metallic spray paint options:
- Rust-oleum Universal Metallic Pure Gold
- Rust-oleum Universal Metallic Sunlit Brass
- Rust-oleum Metallic Gold in bright and shiny finish
- Rust-oleum Metallic Warm Gold
- Rust-oleum Metallic Champagne Bronze
- Krylon Fusion Metallic Gold
I thought there would be a much bigger selection -- but these were the six I found after numerous trips to a few hardware stores. Both Rust-oleum and Krylon are good quality spray paints with great durability!
Many of these have "gold" in the name, but have what I consider to be more of a brass tone. But I find gold and brass spray paints are pretty interchangeable.
I decided to test them out in a way so you can see the paints next to each other. I think this really shows the slight variation between each spay paint.
I grabbed three types of surfaces -- scrap bare wood, primed wood and metal and taped them off into sections. I didn't use a primer on the bare wood or the metal.
Here are some quick spray paint tips before we get started!
- Clean or wipe your item well and let dry before spray painting.
- I usually wear inexpensive latex gloves while spraying, just in case the nozzle drips or over sprays a bit.
- Numerous quick, thin layers will give you a much better finish compared to heavy, thick coats.
- If you get crackling or drips, let them dry fully, then lightly sand that spot and give it a few more light coats.
- Lighter coats also allow for quicker drying time!
- This spray paint handle will help avoid hand fatigue if you're spraying a large item.
- I don't typically use a protective coating on my spray painted items, but if you will use it often, a clear coat isn't a bad idea. It would be helpful on cabinet pulls if your paint doesn't specify that it's not needed.
I wanted to show you the results in both daylight and inside -- remember that your light source will change the colors! Incandescent (regular yellowish color) bulbs will also change the look of the spray paint, just like wall paint.
I sprayed two coats of each paint on the sections.
Here's a look at the spray paints in the same order as above in daylight:
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Wow, look how different these are!
Here's the thing, there's obviously many tones of this metallic color, as there are in real life. For this experiment, I was on the lookout for the most "classic" brass tone.
Look at the difference when I brought them inside, still in natural light:
I found the primed wood showed the variances the best:
Let's start from the left and talk about the colors!
This one is Rust-oleum Universal Metallic Pure Gold and was a lovely, warmer brass/gold tone:
The other Rust-oleum Universal spray paint, Metallic Sunlit Brass, was next and it was more of the traditional brass look, but a bit light:
Side note -- I hate this kind of spray can. I've always found that the nozzle doesn't spray as well, and it's not as comfortable to use.
I also find it more difficult to get a consistent finish with this kind of spray paint.
Next up, the Rust-oleum Metallic Gold in bright and shiny finish was a gorgeous paint that leans more of a brilliant gold finish:
It was a little too bright for the look I was going for, but I loved the color.
Next, one of my favorites! This Rust-oleum Metallic Warm Gold spray paint was a perfect, medium-toned brass finish across all the mediums:
It also went on soooo easily. This nozzle is so much better and the spray paint coated so well.
This next color, Rust-oleum Metallic Champagne Bronze, was another favorite. It leaned to more of a deeper brass tone:
This is a more traditional, darker brass color in my opinion.
And finally, the Krylon Fusion Metallic Gold spray paint was my least favorite:
I loved the nozzle -- the application was super easy! I didn't love how it covered though, and the color was not a gold or brass tone, at least compared to the others.
On it's own it may look great! It's just more of a champagne color in my opinion.
I wanted to test out my top three favorites with a few hanging metal birds I've had laying around forever. I may use them somewhere in my closet redo.
The first was the Metallic Pure Gold all the way on the left:
And the Metallic Warm Gold and Rust-oleum Metallic Champagne Bronze colors were my other two favorites:
Here's a look at the three next to each other:
I liked the pure gold at the bottom, it's my third place finisher. 😀
My two favorites were the two basic metallic colors -- both the champagne bronze and the warm gold:
I think the names are interesting -- I would flip them. :) The champagne name fits the lighter color much better, and the warm gold goes with the darker brass/gold color. It looks more like an antique brass color to me.
My ONE favorite of all six spray paints?
For sure the Rust-oleum Metallic Warm Gold, the spray paint can third from the right in the line of six:
If you look closet, you can see it had variations to it that the others didn't:
It wasn't a flat tone, but instead had some sparkle and nuance that the other two didn't have. It's a gorgeous brass paint color!
This was fun! I hope you found it helpful. Here are the colors I used from left to right if you're interested:
Have you found a brass/gold spray paint that you use and love? I'd love to hear about it! I found my go-to in this pretty warm gold.
If you want more of an accent on a piece instead of full coverage, check out my post on how to use Rub 'n Buff:
You can use it to transform large objects, but it's great way to add depth or detail to all kinds of items!
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Great post, Sarah! Thanks for this excellent demonstration. I look forward to your next post. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can really use this information!
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting this together. It was a timely post since I plan to paint a bunch of thrift store frames. I do want to vary the color so will probably pick 2-3 of the colors. I get a powdery finish (unintentionally). I want to remember polishing with a paper bag after. I read that helps remove the powder. Have you had that happen?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I haven't used a gold/brass spray paint...yet. My last project was done in copper!
ReplyDeleteSuch helpful information, thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you...I'm looking at spray painting my cabinet pulls from the 1980's. They are in good condition but just need some updating.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for doing this and sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis was exactly what I needed to decide what to paint my cabinet hardware. So many choices and no clue how they’ll turn out. I am going with your fave because it’s now my fave. Thank you for this post!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!! I am in the process of wanting to paint our my BLACK pendant shade to BRASS and was having a difficult time with color match. GREAT JOB. Debra
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great post. I am looking for a spray paint to match FINISH
ReplyDeleteUNLACQUERED BRASS by Rejuvenation. Wondering if you could recommend which spray would match best.
This is so helpful! I live in Canada, and think some of the colors may go by other names here, but still this was really helpful in picking a gold spray paint that was much better than the last can I bought. I went with Rustoleum Metallic in "Antique Brass".
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this. I am trying to figure out which one would be closest to the satin brass finish of the door knobs I just purchased, as I am looking to paint my hinges to match.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with your thoroughness of this comparison! It is EXACTLY what I needed and it has saved me countless hours, and money too! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteSuper useful post! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis post was super useful (to parrot another comment) and exactly the type of review I was hoping for to decide on changing over a wooden frame to a brass look. Even if not perfect will be better then hiding in the garage like it has for last 10 years! Love it when that happens!
ReplyDeleteSo helpful, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this I just finished spraying some previously brass casters. I used the Krylon metallic (same color) and was not happy with it. My husband said it was fine :( but i know it will bother me until I repaint them! thanks to your post i have found the right one without buying the whole lot:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this info. I just used Rustoleum Universal Pure Gold on a floor lamp. Although it was super easy to apply and hid the pitted bits, the color is flat. I am not going to spray paint the entire lamp since some of the brass still looks good and I need a more metallic look to try and match as best I can. I'll try overspraying with Rustoleum Metallic Warm Gold.
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing the Lord’s work for us!
ReplyDeleteThis post is exactly what I was looking for and all of the comparisons were so helpful. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I was standing in Walmart in front of the paint section and read your article. Helped me pick the perfect gold! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this in depth and info rich article. It was just the kind of information I was trying to get out of the three sales people at the shop, to no avail. Now I know exactly which product to go for. Why the paint shops don't do something similar to help customers beats me. Just soo happy I stumbled across your excellent work!
ReplyDelete