Refinishing Metal Playground Slide

[930addict]

I inherited my old playground set from when I was a kid. Included is a 12 foot slide. I'm not sure what kind of metal but the face of the slide is rusty. Structurally it is sound it seems like just surface rust. I tried scrubbing it with naval jelly which seemed to get some rust off but left the heavier rust. So how would you go about refinishing this? I wanted to try to do it myself to save some money.

[id10t]

The slide that was at our house when we bought was simply thin sheet metal over a wood frame. Had some splits/cracks in it. Removed wood, put down new aluminum sheeting (still have a LOT extra), nailed wood back into place. Been great for 12 years now.

If yours is all metal like a school's playground, you may need to sand the rust down, then naval jelly scrub, then neutralize the acid, dry completely, run a tack rag over it to pickup any debris, and then clear coat.

[930addict]

Thanks for the info! The slide is an all metal slide. What grit sand paper should I use and do I need to start with a coarse grit and work to a fine grit? Do I need to wet sand it? You mention clear coat. I was thinking about painting the whole set - each piece different colors. Is there a special technique I need to use for the slide to make sure it is slippery enough to slide on? Sorry I'm kind of an id10t when it comes to this stuff. Thanks again!

[id10t]

We used a roll of roof flashing so it was pretreated for oxidation. Id look at what is available for an orbital sander and go from there. You can always polish and wax it. Raining now so I cant get uou a pic of mine ....