The BEST Olympic Plate Refurbishing Guide – 2024
Last updated on April 5th, 2024 at 10:04 am
Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, Gumtree and Play It Again Sports are the garage gym athlete’s ally when it comes to budget friendly equipment. Buying used can save us hundreds if not thousands of dollars off the retail price. We could snag us some top of the line Ivankos or some vintage Yorks. Or simply allow us to test the waters on this entire garage gym life thing without dumping tons of money on new products.
The problem, is that sometimes that equipment isn’t exactly up to par for use, or simply aesthetically looks like crap. This is where the Olympic Plate Refurbishing process comes into play. You can refurb bars, machines, storage, and more. Today, we are just going to talk about cleaning and refurbing Olympic plates.
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Background
I’ve refurbed well over 2000 pounds of plates at this point in my garage gym life. Along with this I’ve done several machines, pate trees, dumbbell racks, bars, and more. Certainly not a record by any means, but more than enough to set me up as someone with some experience. I’ve been called the GOAT by Garage Gym Lab and many of others for some of my earlier refurbs as well. I’ve tried everything from wire wheels on a drill, hand brushing, power washing, CLR, paint stripper, several types of paint, paint pens, foam brushes, you name it. And there is one process that seems to give me the best, most, consistent results, with the least amount of effort.
The following assumes you want to clean and then paint plates. If you aren’t doing both, this process might not work.
This write up was originally done for Garage Gym Life Media.
Tools Needed For Olympic Plate Refurbishing
- Brush – a pack like this will get you a lot of options, AND be awesome for cleaning your bars.
- Hose – literally any hose will work, but I absolutely LOVE our Flexzilla hoses
- White Vinegar – this is CHEAP
- Large Plastic Tub
- Large Shop Towels – these are going to get NASTY, so don’t use your good stuff
- Paint – This is the BEST spray paint. It isn’t even close.
- Paint Pens – Lot of options depending on your color choice, these will work
- Foam Paint Bruses – If going this route, snag these and a can of paint
- Gloves – these help with keeping crap off your hands
- Mask – keep that crap out of your lungs too
- Nice clear sunny day
Read through this article before you buy anything, to make sure you don’t miss anything and know WHY you need what I listed.
If you plan to keep your plates AS IS. What I mean is, you only want to clean them up, not paint them, I would check out my dude Rob at VintageWeightsPGH and his Vintage Weight Plates Projects videos. He uses OXALIC Acid for his cleaning, which seems to be the go to for preserving plates.
Prep – The Most Important Step
White vinegar, a natural cleaner, likes to remove pretty much anything from everything given the right amount of time and environment. And it seems to keep the things you want intact – a very nice alternative to some of the harsher treatments available. My last two Olympic Plate Refurbishing projects, both sets of hundred pound plates, went through the following process.
Spray down the plates with a hose and then lightly scrub with a brush. We are simply removing the first layer of dirt and grime that falls off easily. Take the biggest plastic container you have (a kiddie pool works wonders here), and start setting up your plates. You want to place the plates on something like small pebbles so they are just slightly off the ground.
The small pebbles keep the plates fully surrounded by the solution, instead of one side potentially being completely flat on the bottom of the kiddie pool, but you don’t want whatever they are on to lift them too high or to have too much surface contact with the plates. Small pebbles, a few coins, a spare metal nut, something easy.
Fill up your container as much as you can. My solution was 1 gallon of white vinegar to the rest of the pool filled with water. If you are using something smaller, just eye ball it. This doesn’t have to be perfect. If you have cats, dogs, or children, be safe here. Might be good to cover with a tarp. Let the plates sit overnight in the solution. I would often prep mine in the afternoon on a Friday and get after them Saturday morning. Longer is fine, but don’t rush it.
The Next Day
The next day pull the plates out and place them on some clean rock or other area that will drain. Hose them off well, brush them down, and wipe them clean. Depending on how dirty they were originally, and how long you let them sit, you may need to rub with a little elbow grease. You aren’t trying to remove every imperfection or rust spot. You are trying to remove anything loose that the paint will adhere to and then fall off.
Let the plates air dry. Depending on how hot it is outside, they might air dry by the time you finish cleaning up your towels. If you have more plates to do, repeat the process. Otherwise, it’s time to paint. Prep is vitally important and should be done correctly. But remember, you are painting these, so save the perfectionism for the painting. Clean them up, get whatever you can off easily, and move on.
Painting
The basic process is painting one side, let it sit, flip, then paint the other. Take your time while painting. Even strokes from side to side, keep the can the recommended 12 inches or so from the plates, and dab at any spots as needed.
Start with the backs of the plates up, resting on some cardboard (other material is fine, just keep it clean and know it’ll get paint on it). Pick an area you won’t worry about over spray. Trust me, no matter what you do, there will be over spray.
Paint the back of the plates and as much of the sides as you can. Try and look at the plates from ALL angles to not miss anything. You can use the pebble trick from the cleaning to raise the plates just a tad which can help them from sticking to whatever you put under them. Once you finish, you can walk around and see if you need a second coat anywhere. The backs tend to be easier because there aren’t any crevices to hide. Second coats are just to cover missed spots and should be done within 30 minutes of the first coat.
LET THEM SIT YOU ANIMAL
Let them sit for a few days. Seriously, 48 hours is the minimum. My typical approach was to paint on Sundays, let them sit, check on them Wednesday and see if they need a second coat on the back or not, and then prep for the next step on the upcoming weekend. If you rush this, the paint can have problems adhering, can bubble, or you simply flip the plates early and they stick to the cardboard. DO NOT RUSH THIS. If at all possible, do this on a hot day in the summer, outside. The paint will adhere fantastically, almost like a powder coat. If it is windy or wet, move them inside under cover as needed.
Has it been 3 or 4 days since you completed step 3? Ok, move on.
Flip the plates and spray the fronts and sides as needed. Take the same approach with the backs, look at every angle and try and find spots you may have missed and hit them within about 30 minutes of your first spray. I never forced a second coat. I simply painted to cover missing areas. Common culprits are hubs, lips, and the various bumps and stuff that come with the front face of a plate. Don’t bother painting the inside holes of the plates. Your bar is going to rip that paint off anyway. Simply oil the holes with 3n1 oil after everything is done (not right now, when done).
Again, let them sit for at least 48 hours leaning on longer as ideal. At this point, your plates should have a good clean coat of paint, you should have no missing spots, and they should be dried and looking awesome. You can stop here, or take the final step.
Optional last step… Lettering!
I find that lettering is a nice way to finish the plates and match your gym aesthetic. It is the Olympic Plate Refurbishing extra touch! You can grab whatever colors you want to do the lettering, even a combo like my plates of Red and White.
If you are covering the lettering with a BOLD and vibrant color, like a red, you can easily use the paint pens no matter what style of lettering you have.
If you are doing white, or something a little more toned down, you’ll need to pay attention to this step. Fatter lettering like you see on Ivanko plates or on my Olymco 100 pounders, will do better with a can of paint and a foam brush. Skinnier lettering will do better with a paint pen.
Keep on hand some q-tips, nail polish remover, and tissue for clean up as needed. Simply paint the lettering as you would anything you are doing by hand, let it dry, do touch-up as needed, and call it done!
That is it! It is a lot of work, but personally I love lifting something custom that I did myself. And if you snagged a good deal on some quality plates, that makes it even better! Your plates should hold up well to regular abuse if you took your time and did it correctly.
But remember that metal on metal contact, as well as sweat, the elements of the garage, and more… will slowly oxidize the plates. This means the colors will change/fade, you’ll see some slight cracks or chips in the paint, some flash rust spots will arise, and more. But this is going to happen with brand new plates as well. Again, if you are using them correctly, they’ll start to show it.
Wrap Up On Olympic Plate Refurbishing
I’ve gone through multiple Olympic Plate Refurbishing projects. Painted vintages plates, bargain plates, plates I intended to sell. I’ve gone very custom, and very plain. At the end of the day, do what YOU want. Don’t let anyone else tell you your plates can’t be turquoise and red, or whatever whacky combo you like.
I didn’t get deemed the GOAT of plate refurbs by Garage Gym Lab for playing it safe. The red lettering was something I did when most others were sticking to white or nothing at all. It POPS, and it matches my aesthetic. It is WHAT I WANTED IN MY GYM. And the best part about a home gym, is making it your own.
Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
