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Zinc paint for welds and cut ends

Updated: October 2026

You have just cut a length of galvanised tube for a gate, or finished a weld on a bracket, and the steel at that edge is bright and bare. Zinc paint for welds and cut ends covers that small area once the work has cooled, if the can states that repair. A weld-through title is a separate claim, and the listing and the reviews have to support it before you rely on it. Wider product choice sits on the [zinc paint](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/zinc-paint) comparison. This page uses Galvanizers Association repair notes, Health and Safety Executive welding guidance, maker pages, and amazon.co.uk listings. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have just cut a length of galvanised tube for a gate, or finished a weld on a bracket, and the steel at that edge is bright and bare.

Our top picks

Action Can Action Can ZG-90 500 ml

Best overall

Action Can Action Can ZG-90 500 ml
9.4/10about £10.77
View offer
Motip Motip M04061 400 ml

Best value

Motip Motip M04061 400 ml
8.8/10about £8.96
View offer
Simoniz Simoniz SIMP10D 500 ml

Rank 3

Simoniz Simoniz SIMP10D 500 ml
6.2/10about £11.95
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.A cut end is bare steel
  2. 2.Weld-through is a claim you have to check
  3. 3.Colour match on a joint is not the same job
  4. 4.Zinc fume, then stop

A cut end is bare steel

Cutting galvanised steel takes the zinc off with the offcut. A drilled hole clears the rim, and a weld burns the coating back, leaving bare steel next to galvanising that is still sound. The Galvanizers Association treats zinc-rich paint as the simple site repair for that small damage. On a renovated area the minimum average is about 100 micrometres, and the repair product they look for is about 80% zinc by weight. The routine for shaking, distance, and the nozzle is on how to apply zinc paint.

Weld-through is a claim you have to check

A weld-through zinc primer is meant to sit on the steel during a spot weld. Zinc spray on a finished weld or a cut end goes on afterwards, once the arc is out and the steel has cooled, even if the tin says cold galvanising. Simoniz SIMP10D is the dispute here. The title and special features say weld-through, and two reviews say the can is not weld-through, so this page does not treat it as one. Motip is the can the maker and the listing both call spot-weldable, with more than 90% zinc in the dry film. Spot does not mean MIG, TIG, or a seam, and it does not cancel zinc fume. The spot-weldable can is compared on best zinc paint. How a dry-film percentage differs from a purity claim is on the zinc paint buying guide.
Action Can Action Can ZG-90 500 ml

Testsieger

Action Can Action Can ZG-90 500 ml
9.4/10about £10.77
View offer

Colour match on a joint is not the same job

Action Can ZG-90 is a colour match, and the maker names welding joints and cut ends for a touch-up after the work. The film is non-conductive, so it suits a silver repair on cooled steel and is not a reason to weld through it. Use ZG-90 on a finished gate-tube end when you want the bright match. It is the wrong can when the target is about 80% zinc by weight built towards about 100 micrometres, because colour and that thickness are different jobs.

Zinc fume, then stop

Welding galvanised steel produces zinc fume. The Health and Safety Executive usually links metal fume fever to welding or hot work on galvanised metals, and it treats all welding fume as able to cause lung cancer. Paint on the cooled joint does not undo fume from the arc. Indoors, extract at the work rather than relying on a closed garage with the door ajar. Where extraction is not enough, suitable respiratory protective equipment is expected, including outdoors if the fume stays in your breathing zone. Do not weld galvanised steel in a confined space. Without extraction, pass the weld to someone who has it, and coat only steel that has cooled and been cleaned.

Common questions

What do you put on a cut end of galvanised steel?
Put a zinc-rich repair coating on clean, dry steel and build it in several thin coats. The Galvanizers Association describes that paint as the simple site repair, at about 80% zinc by weight and about 100 micrometres average. One aerosol pass of about 30 micrometres does not reach that average, and a large repair specified to BS EN ISO 1461 is not a job for the can.
Is a zinc spray the same as welding through a primer?
A repair spray goes on after the cut or the weld has cooled, while a weld-through primer is meant to be in place during the weld. In this set that second claim stays limited to spot welding where the maker says spot. ZG-90 is named for joints and cut ends as a colour-match touch-up, not as a film you weld through.
What does the Simoniz listing actually support?
Simoniz SIMP10D costs £11.95 and has 3.8 stars from 51 reviews, on galvanised and untreated metal. The title and the special features say weld-through, while two reviews say the can is not. That is a conflict, not a proved weld-through primer, so this page does not recommend it for a weld.
Which can in this set is stated spot-weldable by the maker?
Motip's maker page states that the zinc spray is spot-weldable and that the dry film is more than 90% zinc. The amazon.co.uk listing repeats the spot-weldable line. Spot does not extend to MIG, TIG, or a long seam, and Simoniz is not this can, because reviews dispute its title.
What fume risk comes from welding galvanised steel?
Welding or other hot work on galvanised steel produces zinc fume. The Health and Safety Executive links metal fume fever, in the usual case, to that work, and treats welding fume as able to cause lung cancer. A coat of zinc paint afterwards does not clear fume you have already breathed.
When should a welder stop and use extraction rather than a can?
Stop before the arc indoors without extraction, outdoors if fume stays in your breathing zone without respiratory protection, or in any confined space. Indoor welding fume needs engineering control, with respiratory protection where extraction is not enough, including outside. The can coats steel that has cooled and been cleaned, and it does not replace extraction.

Related pages

Zinc paint vs hot dip galvanising

Zinc paint

Best zinc paint: colour match, zinc film or primer

Zinc paint buying guide: check film, job and claims

How to apply zinc paint on clean steel, thin coats

Sources

Public UK sources used for the repair and safety points on this page. Prices, stars and review counts are from the amazon.co.uk listings on 16 October 2026.

  1. Galvanizers Association — Repair of galvanized steel (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. Galvanizers Association — Coating repair datasheet (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. EGGA — Specification guidance (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. Action Can — ZG-90 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. Motip — Zinc spray 04061 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. Institute of Corrosion — Zinc-rich coatings (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. VOC in Paints, Varnishes and Vehicle Refinishing Products Regulations 2012 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. HSE — Respiratory protective equipment in bodyshops (retrieved 16 October 2026)