Bed Restoration

We are one of the few restoration businesses left in Australia who restore brass & iron beds. Personally, I have a soft spot for cast iron beds which are sometimes referred to as wrought iron beds, brass beds, antique brass & iron beds or antique four poster beds.

They were manufactured all over the world and due to Australia's extensive immigrant population there are a vast amount of brass & iron beds here in Australia.

History Of Antique Beds

Cast iron beds or wrought iron beds in the Victorian period were quite plain but still had an enduring style. They were relatively cheap for the period and were sold in the thousands. They had the advantage of being simple to dismantle and far less likely to harbour vermin, which was a huge problem for the time, so their popularity flourished.

As times changed, so did cast iron bed design, incorporating more brass decorative pieces such as brass bed knobs which were placed on the top of each post.

With the advancement of brass & iron bed manufacturing techniques, the beds became far more elaborate including high four poster and half testers beds which were adorned with highly crafted brass, decorative curtains, and fly netting.

In the late Victorian, early Edwardian period, brass & iron bed design became more ornate. This saw the introduction of brass circular mirrored centrepieces, brass sleeves, mother of pearl inlays, painted china spindles (known in the trade as porcelains) brass rods and finials.

Full brass beds featured during the Edwardian and Art Nouveau periods. This seemed to be the final chapter for brass & iron beds as by the 1930's Art Deco period they were well and truly out of vogue.

Antique Iron & Brass Bed Restoration Process

All brass & iron beds are dismantled, repaired where needed and the cast iron parts are sand blasted to remove all the old paint & rust.

In a lot of brass & iron beds the bed has been previously restored sometime before, but it has just been quickly rubbed down and spray painted. This means that most of the lead based paint still remains on the cast iron. Lead based paint was extensively used in this period, so it is important that all traces are removed for safety purposes.

All the cast iron bed parts are then powder coated (powder baked) in a colour of your choice. The powder coating is a far more durable finish than painting.

Brass Polishing

All the brass parts are cleaned and polished using traditional polishing techniques. The brass surface is then prepared for lacquering which protects the brass from tarnishing.

Brass tends to tarnish almost immediately after polishing so if you don't have the time to polish the brass on a regular basis, lacquering is highly advisable.

Timber Slat Bed Base

After the brass & iron bed has been reassembled it will need a replacement bed base.

In most cases, the original wire mattress base has long gone. However, in some cases the old wire base is still around, although it should have been discarded along with the original mattress. Let me assure you it is of no consequential value to an antique bed restoration.

We manufacture timber slat bases that are made to measure for each individual antique iron and brass bed restoration project. All timber slat bases can be dismantled and transported for your convenience.