Abstract: A highly effective and storage stable conditioning treatment for metal surfaces prior to phosphating them is a suspension in water containing solid miorosize particles of at least one phosphate of a divalent or trivalent metal and an accelerant selected from the group consisting of sacoharides and their derivatives thereof, orthophosphoric acid, condensed phosphoric acids, organophosphonic acids, and polymers of vinyl acetate and/or carboxylic acid. The surface conditioning liquid composition is used simply by effecting contact between the metal and the liquid composition, and can also be used to simultaneously carry out degreasing, particularly when the conditioning liquid also contains nonionic or anionic surfactant.