Use Radiator Paint to Update Your Old Radiator

Whether you want to turn a flaw into a feature by updating your radiator colour, or just want to make the radiator a less obvious part of a room, radiator paint is an easy, cost effective way to achieve this.

How to paint a radiator

Though it may seem like a specialist task – it needs to survive heating through the winter after all – it is as simple as any other DIY painting project you might undertake at home. There are at most three important steps:

1. Preparation – Firstly make sure your heating is off and the radiator is stone cold. If the room isn’t well ventilated, open a window. Clean the radiator of all the dust, hair, grease with lightly soapy water.
2. Sanding and priming – Any lumps of old paint or rust should be sanded off to make sure you have the best surface for your paint. Clean the radiator down again if you do need to sand it. If your chosen radiator paint specifies a primer (some don’t!), apply the primer to the freshly sanded and cleaned surface evenly and cleanly/
3. Painting – Once the primer is dry it is time to paint. Using the edge of your brush paint the edges with long even strokes (along the edge not towards it) before moving to the mouldings and faces of the radiator. Only lightly load the paintbrush to avoid dripping. Paint along any grooves and join up any patches neatly. And you’re done!

A look at the best radiator paints UK

Below are 5 of the best radiator paints available in the UK, and a look at the brand and suitability of each. There are a wide range of radiator paint colours and application methods – including radiator spray paint, to make the job even easier. Not just any metal paint, radiators need heat resistance to deal with their working temperatures.