POR 15 45032 - 4oz Can Gloss Black Rust Preventative Paint - Paint Over Rust! (Single Can)

Used this on my trailer hitch as the paint was scratched and rusting. I filed off the rust and applied. It dries quickly! Apply 2-3 coats and you're good to go. The paint works well with brushes in that it doesn't show brush marks when dried--just a nice even paint job. BEWARE to use cheap "throwaway" brushes as they'll harden after the first use making them unsuable. Cleaning the POR off is also a CHORE(!) so go with throwaway brushes from a Kelly Moore store or HD -don't use an expensive $15 horsehair brush or kiss it goodbye at the end of your job. Also use plastic gloves(!!), as ANY POR will STAIN your hands for a week! A well known fact with POR. IF you DO get some on your skin, the only soap it'll come out with is Castille Soap that you can buy at Target. I had some skin stained for about 2 hours and almost the entire stain from my hands came out! Make sure that the can and lid don't have any POR on it when you close it, or you can kiss away the chance of opening it again without having to puncture the can. I used the can for about 2 weeks off and on applying coats to my hitch when it didn't rain outside. The paint keeps good, but the lid became difficult to remove at the end of my uses when I got careless cleaning the lid from POR residue. So beware! Also make sure to paint over it, as UV light will DETERIORATE(!) your hard work if not protected with something like Masterchem Hammered Spray or something similar. After your last POR application, wait until it's semi-dry and then spray paint it for maximum hardness--this technique comes striaght from POR Tech Support.

This product works great! I have a Jeep Liberty, and if you look at any Jeep Liberty, that is just a little big old, you will notice rust at the bottom of the door panels. I tried to do it the right way, sand down, clean, sand some more, clean some more, prime it, make sure it is clean, prime it again, then finally paint. That lasted about a month! With this, you can paint right over the rust and it hardens the rusted areas. I am not sure how it does it, but it changes it from a crumbling material, to solid, so you can then paint right over it. USE GLOVES, the disposable kind, any paint you get on you, will be there for days to weeks. LET IT DRY, completely, before doing anything to it. It takes a while to fully dry, but it hardens and is easily paintable. DONT PUT THE LID BACK ON!!!! without putting two pieces of plastic wrap between the top lid and the seal. This stuff dries hard, so if you put the lid back on, there is a good chance you are not going to get the lid back off, at least not in one piece. I put two layers of plastic wrap over the lid, then put the lid on, then wrapped the entire can in plastic wrap to store. I got the small can and it is more than enough to do all my rust areas and then some. I plan to use it on my trailer, where it is rusting. The nice thing on the trailer, is that it is already black, so this can be the final coat.

This is my go-to for protection against rust on metal surfaces. Easy to apply, just brush on like any other paint and it's super tough. In my mind it is as good as some powder coats with regard to durability. I recently had some powder coated metal parts that were dropped on concrete and it scratched/chipped the finish. I touched it up with POR-15 and to my surprise it seemed to be even more durable then the powder coat. It seemed to stand up to scratches and ships extremely well better. With all of that said,I cannot stress this next point enough... Never get it on your skin!! NEVER! This stuff is bullet proof. The first time I ever used it I got a fair amount on my hands. As I finished up I go to clean my hands and I can't get it off. I tried soap and water, mineral spirits and then used an old painter's trick, a rag with some gasoline (do not do this on your own). But no luck. Drove home and tried several different soaps and cleaners with no luck. Previous to this I was a professional painter for 5 years and I worked with all different brands and types of paint in that time. I carried a number of solvents, cleaners, and soaps for removing paint from places it shouldn't be, including people. In desperation I pulled out some of my old paint solvents and tried. Nothing. Took a shower and scrubbed until my skin was raw. Nothing. I had to go into work the next two weeks with black paint all over my hands at my super stuffy office job. It wasn't cool. So if you are buying this, do yourself a favor and cover up with rubber gloves, long sleeves, etc. I also suggest you buy the POR15 solvent. It's the only thing that will remove this stuff, but be sure to read the cautions as I don't believe it is meant to take paint off people.

The paint itself is great. It's probably the best I've ever used for stopping and preventing rust. However, it was very difficult to open the 4 oz can that the paint was shipped in. The cover was either pressed on way too tight or the paint itself glued the cover to the can (or both). Using a standard paint can opener, I totally destroyed the lip of the cover trying to pry it from the can, making it useless for resealing the can to save any unused paint.