Re painting metal bistro garden set

I need to paint my wrought iron gates and didn’t have a clue how to do it (my late DH did all the painting), so thank you for the advice! I’ll wait for some better weather & give it a go!

Perhaps use a wire brush spinning on the sander, then dust, then paint.

I do mine every few years with Hammerite spray paint. I just give it a brush down and the paint covers any rust successfully. I do it outdoors on the lawn before it is cut.

Give it a rub down with something abrasive then spray it as suggested with something like Hammerite spray.
I spray metal garden ornaments each year, either with black for some items which I love or clear spray . Protects them well, also to save them when storing over winter give them a quick blast if WD 40 as extra protection, read that once and it works.

You could get it professionally sandblasted, that will take all the paint off and leave you with a rust free surface to paint over. I don’t know how expensive it is though.

I rubbed mine down with medium grit sandpaper, bought some tins of Hammerite aerosol spray paint, put a cover on the garage floor, put on a mask and goggles and sprayed away merrily, It looks absolutely gorgeous. It only needed one coat. I do my wrought iron gates the same way, hang a cover behind them, dust them off, rub them down and spray with hammerite aerosol paint.

I wire brushed then sprayed my old bistro set. The advantage with spraying is that you can give it a quick once over spray to brighten it up if necessary.

Maybe use a wire brush first... sanding gaps in the pattern will be difficult.

I would use an oil based spray paint, give it a light sanding, clean off the dust and spray away. Good luck.

My old garden furniture needs repainting .
I'll use Hammerite .
I'd sand any flakey areas .
If your furniture is of great sentimental value I wouldn't part from it !