// care & materials
Looking after your metalwork.
Steel rewards a little care. Here's how to keep each of our finishes — powder coat, brushed steel and raw bare steel — looking right for years, whether your piece lives on a kitchen wall or out in the garden.
Powder coated
Our most durable finish. A baked-on coloured coat that's tough, weatherproof and easy to clean — ideal indoors or out.
Brushed & lacquered
Bare steel given a directional brushed grain and sealed with clear lacquer. A bright, contemporary look best kept indoors and dry.
Raw / natural steel
Honest bare steel left to develop its own patina. Lives happily outdoors where a warm rust character is part of the appeal.
Powder-coated pieces
Powder coating is the toughest finish we offer — a dry pigment electrostatically applied and oven-cured into a hard, even shell. It resists knocks, UV and weather, which is why we use it on garden and outdoor work.
- Wipe clean with a soft cloth and warm water with a drop of mild washing-up liquid. Dry with a soft cloth afterwards.
- Avoid abrasive pads, scouring creams and solvent or bleach-based cleaners — they can dull or scratch the coat.
- Outdoors, an occasional rinse to clear salt, grime and pollen keeps the colour fresh.
- If the coating is ever chipped to bare metal, dab the spot with a matched touch-up paint to stop moisture creeping under the coat.
Coastal or exposed sites: powder coat copes well, but salt air is hard on everything. A quick rinse every few weeks and a check of any fixings makes a real difference to its life.
Brushed & lacquered steel
Brushed steel has a fine directional grain sealed under clear lacquer. It's a bright, modern finish — but the lacquer is a thin protective layer, so treat it gently and keep it indoors.
- Dust with a dry microfibre cloth, wiping along the grain, not across it.
- For marks, a barely-damp cloth is plenty; dry immediately. Never use wire wool, metal polish or abrasive cleaners — they cut straight through the lacquer.
- Keep it out of bathrooms, splash zones and unheated outbuildings; trapped moisture is the enemy of a lacquered finish.
Raw & natural steel
Some of our pieces are deliberately left as bare steel to weather naturally — a living finish that deepens from bright grey to warm amber and russet tones over time. No two ever age quite the same.
- Indoors, we usually seal raw steel with a clear wax or lacquer to hold it at the patina you bought. Re-wax once or twice a year with a clear furniture or metal wax to keep it stable.
- Outdoors, an unsealed piece will rust on the surface — that's intended. The patina protects the steel beneath and rarely needs anything from you.
- Surface rust can transfer, so stand outdoor raw-steel pieces clear of paving, decking and light render that you'd mind staining, or seal the base.
Want to slow the rust? A bare-steel piece can be sealed with an exterior clear coat at any point — just ask and we'll tell you the right product, or we can do it for you before it ships.
Indoors vs outdoors — at a glance
Buying a gift or planning where a piece will go? As a rule of thumb: powder coat goes anywhere; brushed-and-lacquered stays indoors and dry; raw steel is happiest outdoors or sealed for indoor use. If you're unsure which finish suits your spot, tell us where it'll live and we'll point you the right way.
Questions about a finish?
We choose finishes for a living. Ask us anything — or browse the materials guide for the metals behind them.