Are you ready to add a splash of color to your bike? Spray painting is an effective and low-cost way to give any bike a new look. It’s easy to do, and with some careful preparation you can achieve great results.
But before you start spraying paint on your beloved two wheeler, it pays to know some insider tips that will ensure the job looks its best. Read on as today we explore how to safely and effectively spray paint a bike at home with Heather from DIY Kinda Girl.
She shares how she turned a little girl’s bike into an orange and blue little guy’s ride. The makeover is amazing and it is perfect for those who have a boy and a girl and need to pas down bikes from one to the other.
Hey folks! I’m Heather! Can’t tell you how excited I am to be guesting here at Infarrantly Creative (thanks Beckie!).
So today, I want to show you how I took a pink garage sale bike and turned it into a sleek and spiffy little boy’s bike.
We picked up this little gem at a neighborhood garage sale for $5.
It’s in great shape, a little rust here and there, but otherwise a solid little bike.
Only problem is the child we bought it for is a boy.
But when you have vision, it’s just an excuse for another project. 😉
So here’s what I used to turn this second hand little girl’s bike into something spiffy for my boy.
Supplies:
A razorblade (get one with a little handle, like this)
Goo Gone and a rag
LIME A-WAY and an old toothbrush
Rustoleum Protective Enamel Spray (also known as spray paint) in Orange
Rustoleum Textured Metallic in Silver
Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze
A whole lot of painters tape, saran wrap, plastic grocery bags, etc.
Okay, so first things first, you’ve got to remove the old peely (ugly) stickers.
Here’s where the razor blade comes in. Be careful, you don’t want to cut yourself or someone around you, and more importantly (I’m kidding!), you don’t want to nick the bike. The goal here is to remove the stickers, not gouge the bike’s enamel.
Once the stickers are off, in all likelihood you’ll be left with a sticky mess.
Hello Goo Gone! (I seriously love this stuff).
Spray it on, making sure all the sticky is covered, and let it sit for ten minutes or so, then come back and wipe it off with a rag. Repeat as needed until the stickiness is gone.
Next, let’s address any rust. LIME A-WAY. Spray, let sit for a few minutes, then scrub with the toothbrush. Repeat as needed.
Wipe your bike down thoroughly to remove any residue from our trusty (not) rusty cleaning supplies, and let it dry.
Next, take your bike apart. And take a good photo and/or write things down so you’ll be able to put it back together!
Okay, now how well the bike turns out depends in large part on how well you tape.
For example, I taped around that silver piece in the middle, because I knew just painting over it would make it look like, well, a spray painted bike. So be thorough and careful in your taping.
And start the spray painting. REMEMBER, you must be patient. Lots of thin coats will equate a nice smooth even finish. Get impatient or careless, and you’ll likely end up with drips.
Next, to protect the finish, I gave it several coats of glaze. The Krylon product I used said to spray on a full wet coat, and let dry. That’s tricky. You need it to be full wet so it dries glossy, but not so full wet that it drips. Tread carefully. And don’t despair if you get a couple drips, you can scrape them off with the aforementioned razor blade and do some patch work, or you can smile and say, “No one is going to notice them anyway, least of all my 4 year old boy.”
And Viola!!!
A sporty, spiffy bike for my boy.
I had originally intended on doing some designs on the cross bars, and his initial on the front below the handlebars, but frankly by the end I’d lost all enthusiasm for the project. Plus, he loves it as is. 🙂
Just to recap:
Two things I will say: 1) The hammered finish was a waste of money, as it didn’t work; and 2) I would only recommend this for a small child’s bike, i.e., one who is on training wheels and won’t be wiping out much…
I make my home over at diy kinda girl, where I chronicle all my projects (which I have lined up one after the other, enough to last ’til the day I die, it seems). I love the process of designing, planning and all around figuring out how to do something myself. As a result, I have far too many hobbies, from papercrafting to crochet to jewelry making to sewing to making accessories to home decor to digiscrapping…..
(In fact, I love digiscrapping so much, I just started a series on How To Get Started with Digital Scrapbooking.)
But most of all, I’m absorbed by my house! We just bought our first home in February, and most of my DIY projects of late have been devoted to that! My first project was stripping down every kitchen cabinet and restaining them, plus adding hardware and decorative molding.
More recently, I painted 7 of my 8 very large laminate bookshelves.
Thanks for having me, Beckie! If any of you would like to come visit me over at diy kinda girl, I’d love to have you!
great $5 purchase and transformation 🙂
Amazing transformation … what a bargain! And I love the orange.
You have no idea how timely this blog post is! We have a bike in our garage awaiting our sparkly blue spray paint! I have been too nervous to tackle it but now feel like I can do it!
The bike looks great!
Thanks for all the tips!!!
What a great idea! I’m wanting to paint a bike for myself soon.
Maybe I’ll find a great garage sale deal too 🙂
Does the line a way really remove the rust?
This was a guest post, so I did not actually use the Lime Away myself. Sorry I can’t be of more help.