Metal · Care Guide
Metal
Finished metal frames and fittings
Maintained As
Coated Ferrous Metal
Smooth to lightly textured. Blackened and waxed steel feels almost soft and shows fingerprints readily.
Durability
Everyday resilience
Structurally excellent. The finish is the vulnerable part — chips, deep scratches and standing moisture all start rust.
In the Collection
29 pieces
Every piece we carry in metal, cared for the same way.
About This Material
Metal gives a frame its strength and a fine, clean line. Alloys and finishes vary from piece to piece and are named on the product page wherever they are specified. The routine below is the conservative one for coated ferrous metal, which is safe for almost any finished metal component.
How To Spot It
Check whether a magnet sticks: it will on steel and iron, and will not on aluminium, brass or stainless.
Strong, rigid and heavy. Powder coating gives an even, slightly textured matte or satin film. Blackened steel has a softer, more variable surface with visible depth.
Specific To Metal
If you would like the specification confirmed for your piece, ask us and we will put the answer in writing.
At A Glance
How it holds up
Each bar shows how well metal resists that stress — five means it shrugs it off, one means it is the first thing to damage the surface.
Typically Used For
What It Does Well
- Strong and dimensionally reliable
- Slim profiles carry real load
- Recyclable
What To Accept
- Behaviour depends on the alloy
- Coating is the vulnerable part
- Can feel cold underhand
Daily Care
The everyday routine
- Dust with a dry soft cloth.
- Wipe fingerprints from blackened steel promptly, as skin oils mark it.
- Dry any moisture immediately, especially where a leg meets the floor.
- Check that floor glides are intact before moving anything.
Deep Cleaning
Step by step
- 01 Dust thoroughly to clear grit.
- 02 Wipe with a barely-damp cloth and a drop of mild washing-up liquid.
- 03 Rinse with a second damp cloth to remove all detergent.
- 04 Dry immediately and completely — never leave a coated steel surface to air dry.
- 05 Apply a thin coat of clear paste wax to blackened steel once or twice a year for added protection.
Safe To Use
- Mild washing-up liquid in warm water
- Dry or barely-damp microfibre cloths
- Clear paste wax for blackened and raw-look finishes
- Colour-matched touch-up paint
Never Use
- Abrasive pads, wire wool and scouring powder — they breach the coating and start rust
- Bleach and chlorine-based cleaners
- Solvent degreasers, which soften paint and powder coat
- Leaving any surface wet
- Rust removers on a coated surface, which strip the coating along with the rust
Stain Removal
Lift it without making it worse
Blot rather than rub, and test any treatment somewhere out of sight first.
A barely-damp microfibre cloth, then dry and buff. On waxed blackened steel, re-wax occasionally to keep marking down.
Mild washing-up liquid on a damp cloth, rinse and dry at once.
Only where the coating is already breached. Take the rust back with a fine abrasive pad used very locally, clean, dry, then prime and touch in with matched paint.
Usually mineral deposit. Buff dry with a soft cloth; a barely-damp cloth then thorough drying will clear the rest.
Often transferred material rather than damage. A damp cloth with mild detergent usually lifts it.
Warm soapy water and patience. Avoid solvent, which attacks the coating.
Prevent Damage
What actually causes the harm
- Moisture
- The main enemy. Dry spills immediately and never place coated steel on a consistently damp floor.
- Coating damage
- Lift rather than drag. A deep scratch to bare metal is the beginning of a rust bloom.
- Salt and humidity
- Coastal air corrodes steel quickly. Wipe down more often and wax more frequently near the sea.
- Scratches
- Felt pads between metal and any hard surface, and intact glides on every foot.
- Heat
- Generally resilient, but avoid prolonged direct heat on a powder-coated finish, which can soften it.
- Outdoor exposure
- Only where the piece is specified for it. Indoor powder coat has no UV package and will chalk and fade.
Never Do This
Damage that cleaning cannot undo
Each of these changes the surface permanently.
Wire wool or abrasive pads
They cut through the coating to bare steel, and rust follows within days in normal humidity.
Bleach
Chlorine attacks both the coating and the steel beneath, and pits the metal.
Leaving it wet
Standing water at any coating flaw starts corrosion almost immediately.
Solvent degreasers
They soften and lift powder coat and paint.
Rust remover on an intact coating
It strips the finish far beyond the rust spot, leaving a much larger problem.
Repair
Putting it right
Clean and dry, then apply colour-matched touch-up paint in thin coats with a fine brush, letting each dry before the next.
Take it back locally with a fine abrasive pad, clean, dry, prime and touch in.
Prime first, then touch in. Skipping primer means the rust returns under the new paint.
Nearly always fixings rather than the frame. Tighten in a diagonal sequence rather than one corner at a time.
Professional stripping and re-powder-coating. Worth doing on a good frame — it comes back better than new.
Maintenance Schedule
A rhythm worth keeping
- daily
- Dry any moisture.
- weekly
- Dust, and wipe fingerprints from blackened finishes.
- monthly
- Inspect for chips and check that fixings are tight.
- quarterly
- Clean thoroughly and touch in any chips found.
- annually
- Re-wax blackened steel and inspect every foot and glide.
Where To Put It
Indoor placement
The steel is fine; the coating is what you are protecting. Keep it dry and unscratched.
Site It Like This
- Site on a dry floor — a leg standing in a damp patch will rust from the foot up.
- Check floor glides are intact before dragging anything.
- Wipe blackened steel down after handling; skin oils mark it.
- Touch in chips promptly with primer and matched paint.
Not Here
- Bathrooms, utility rooms and anywhere condensation runs down walls.
- Coastal exposure without more frequent wiping and waxing — salt air corrodes steel fast.
- Sitting the piece on a damp stone or tiled floor after mopping.
- Leaving indoor powder-coated steel outdoors; it has no UV package and will chalk.
Weekly Care
The five-minute routine
Dust, and wipe fingerprints from blackened finishes.
Then monthlyInspect for chips and check that fixings are tight.
Common Questions
What owners ask us
Take it back locally with a fine abrasive pad, clean, dry, then prime and touch in with colour-matched paint. Skipping the primer means the rust simply returns underneath the new paint.
No. Abrasives cut through the coating to bare steel, and in normal household humidity rust follows within days. A barely-damp cloth and mild washing-up liquid is the whole routine.
Blackening is a thin oxide layer, not a paint, so it varies naturally and marks where hands rest. A clear paste wax once or twice a year evens it out and slows rusting.
Nearly always fixings rather than the frame itself. Tighten in a diagonal sequence — opposite corners in turn — rather than fully tightening one corner at a time.
Never. Chlorine attacks both the coating and the steel beneath, and pits the metal permanently.
Often yes. Professional stripping and re-powder-coating gives you a frame that is genuinely better than new, and a good steel frame is worth the cost.
Lifespan & Ageing
How it will look in ten years
With Proper Care
Twenty years or more, and re-coatable after that.
With Poor Care
Five to eight years before rust bleeds through the coating and becomes structural.
How It Ages
Powder coat holds its colour well indoors. Blackened steel is meant to develop character — a slightly variable, softly worn surface at the points where hands land. Waxing keeps that even rather than blotchy.
Metal Specifically
Depends entirely on the finish. Keep it dry and avoid abrasives and you will not go wrong whatever the alloy.
Related Materials
Cared for the same way
These share metal’s maintenance regime, so the same routine applies to all of them.
Not Sure
We will check it for you
If you are unsure which material your piece is, or you have a mark you would rather not experiment on, tell us the piece and what you are unsure of; when we reply, you can attach photographs.
Ask us