Painting Anodized Aluminum Storefront. The bronze anodized aluminum storefront window frames of this building have been dulled by age, sun, paint and mineral deposits, and likely airborne pollutants and other impurities. Corrosion that once removed, is unacceptable. I'm the supervisor of the paint line in a factory in europe that is applying paints to parts made of anodized aluminum.
This video is full of tips.
I have been told by the manufacturer / installer that they need to be sanded, primed, and spray oil painted. The anodic coating is a hexagonal matrix of aluminum oxide, the pores of the matrix are filled with trapped dye molecules. The actual finish can be removed making light colored stains where the finish is missing. Specialized, hard to find chromic acid anodizing is superior for corrosion resistance , and probably also, iirc,before primer and/or paint topcoat. Anyone who has every tried to paint over anodized aluminum without priming first knows that chipping and peeling is virtually inevitable. This video is full of tips. It also plays a crucial role in a store's advertising and merchandising strategy to draw aluminum—a lightweight, nonmagnetic metal commonly found on storefronts dating from the 1920s and 30s. In a management meeting, we discussed whether the storage of these parts before painting, or the anodizing is to blame for the paint adhesion problem.
