The pretreatment of the metals before the actual phosphatizing is effected in a conventional way. Degreasing can for instance be effected by means of aqueous, alkaline cleaners, which expediently contain a surfactant. If present, scale or rust should be removed by a pickling treatment, for instance by means of sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid or hydrochloric acid.

After the phosphatizing treatment the workpieces are usually rinsed with water. To improve the protection against corrosion, the workpieces may subsequently be treated with rerinsing solutions containing for instance chromic acid or no chromic acid. It is, however, particularly advantageous when in accordance with a further advantageous embodiment of the invention a rerinsing with fully deionized water, which by means of mineral acid has been adjusted to a pH in the range from 3.6 to 5.0, is effected instead of the aforementioned rerinsing.

The phosphate coatings produced in accordance with the inventive process can be used in all fields where phosphate coatings are employed. When phosphatizing metal surfaces it is, however, particularly advantageous for the subsequent lacquer coating, in particular the subsequent electro-dipcoating. In this connection, especially the process of preparing for the cathodic electro-dipcoating is of particular importance.