Have you heard of Rub ‘n Buff ? It’s a pretty sweet wax product that can transform the look of anything you have!

I recently used Rub ‘n Buff to add the perfect gold touch here and there to my office makeover. I mentioned last week that I used it on my simple ceiling light makeover, today I’ll show you the product in action. What I love about Rub’n’Buff is that I can apply it WHILE things are already in place. Making Rub ‘n Buff
a quick spray paint alternative.

For example, I bought a light gold Cafe Curtain Rod and really didn’t want to go outside in between rain showers to spray paint it. Instead, I mounted the rod and started spreading Rub’n’Buff on it while it was hanging right there in my office! Here’s a color comparison..

The Rub ‘n Buff Antique Gold is practically the same color as the Design Master 24-Carat Pure Gold Metallic Spray Paint
I used on other parts of the office! It’s a richer gold than the store bought curtain rod (and just as pretty as those Nate Berkus Gold Shears
…) And you know how I applied it? With the tip of my index finger! Here’s a look at how it goes on.


You pick a spot, apply a dab to your finger, spread around, then buff to the desired cloudy (as I think it) look. I do find that it goes on better on top of paint, but I still used it on unpainted hardware. The key is to use a small brush and do it in layers after it has dried (~30 minutes). If you rub the paint with your finger on a clean surface, the paint wont adhere very well.

Here’s another example. I had touched up the Cafe Curtain Rod to my desired gold, but my curtain still had chrome grommets. So I used a tiny paint brush to transform the grommets to gold!
Soooo much easier than trying to spray paint those suckers! And I got to re-use a curtain instead of buying a new one. I was so excited about the easiness of these DIY updates that I kept pulling the Rub’n’Buff out for any little gold touch up! Here’s how the curtain turned out! Definitely not a gold I found in store so I love it all the more!

Rub’n’Buff comes in other colors too! There’s a sweet sample kit if you want to try them out. Can you think of somewhere in your house that you’d like to try this DIY on? Maybe some ugly gold or brass hardware? I’d love to here + field any more questions you might have!

Erica says
Oooh I love this! Super clever – I’m always using gold spray paint on literally everything, so this would be much easier, especially with all the rain we’ve been having! I’ll have to give it a shot :) Your office looks SO fantastic!!
Petite Modern Life says
Thank you lovely!
Corinna - For My Love Of says
LOL! This rub n buff stuff is pretty amazing! Antique gold was the color I wanted but I either could drive an hour to get it or settle on Grecian gold. Though looking at your pictures, I’m not sure it’s too much diffent!
Juanita says
Love your office space and how you did the black through out the whole room. How well do you think the Rub n Buff would look on an old cast iron tub instead of spray paint, I have one the I am working on to go into our main bath. I will check out the other colors and maybe find a perfect color for it.
Petite Modern Life says
Thank you for the compliment! Hmm, on the outside where it’s not going to be touched I think it could work. It would definitely stick to the rough-ish cast iron. I’m trying to think what the best method to apply it with would be? Maybe try it under a lip of the tub in a hard to see location first to decide if you like the way it goes on? My only worry is it won’t be as smooth and spray paint. But I would hope it worked too because spray painting a part of a tub would be hard! I’m interested to hear how it goes if you want to right back or share pictures with me!
Caroline says
How did you make sure it did not get on the curtain? Can it wash out?
Petite Modern Life says
Great Question! I did not tape off the curtain, but stayed safely away from the fabric. However, I also figured if I got a tiny bit of gold haze on the fabric you wouldn’t be able to see it from a hanging position. I’m not sure what their cleaning recommendations are, but I bet they say on the packaging :)
Emily says
Are you still able to wash your curtains, after applying this product? Did any of the product rub off with normal use (opening/closing curtains)?