Nylon or Polyester: What kind of paint to use?

Alright, so, I have a pal who's looking for what kind of paint would be best to use on the above types of fabrics. Any ideas/experience?

Will the fabric be worn (and washed, in theory) or displayed on a wall?

If displayed: probably fine with acrylic, which dries to a thin plastic consistency.

If worn: I'll see what I can find out.

It is apparently going to be for painting a flag.

I'll look into it during lunch. I'm a half-block away from the art supply shop.

I'll try to help too, but I have a question. What color of fabric is your friend using?

I totally forgot, because I don't think of them as paint, but I use fabric markers a lot. I've done a few T-shirts and pillow cases using them. So I'm wondering if they could be used on nylon without bleeding into the fabric? But if your using a white basic nylon it might not work for making a flag because your design would show through to the other side. It also depends on what type of textured look your after.

Is this going to be like heirloom quality your friend wants ? I know of course you want it to *represent*, but there are so many types of fabric paints out there. Even spray can types made especially for fabrics. Fabrics that your going to wear. How much money are we talking on spending on it?

Also I'm obsessed with glow in the dark paint. It's really cool for night time events. there's a thought just thrown in there. Since this isn't something your friend is going to wear....if you want to go cheap you just might could use non-"fabric" spraycan paint. And to if you wanna go free hand graffiti style. You just have to spray it on light in thickness on some fabrics.


I don't know why I was assuming this was going to be for clothing and not a craft project. I blame those nice photos of you in your Toy Soldier Uniform.

Welp... time to get to raising the Flag! Is this gonna be a Toy Soldier Flag?

cynfullov wrote:

Welp... time to get to raising the Flag! Is this gonna be a Toy Soldier Flag?

Yeah, I believe that's what he's going to be shooting for, so the fabric itself will probably be black.

OK, I just spoke with the owner of the art supply shop. He's been selling supplies and housepaint for more than 40 yrs., so I know he knows materials.

He agrees that acrylic paints should work out well. There should be no adhesion problem with nylon; he's not as sure about poly (because it reacts a little differently to moisture), but I don't think you'll have a problem. Test a corner first to find out. Let the paint dry naturally, then he suggests curing the paint by putting the painted flag(s) in a dryer. I've never tried this; sounds good, but I would use med-high heat, not the absolute highest heat setting.

He also said you'll be fine just using water-based exterior housepaint. I guess the less expensive option depends on how many colors you're using: a little pot of housepaint could run about the same as a tube or two of acrylic.

And of course, with black you shouldn't have a problem with the design showing through from the other side. With a lighter color fabric it's something to keep in mind.

If you need some shine to the paint, you could try brushing on a thin layer of gel medium over the painted part. Normally you mix it in, but that might affect adhesion in this case. Not sure about the dryer-curing after that, though. And if you do use gel medium, and you've been using masking tape to give a crisp edge to the design, take the tape off before using gel medium. The stuff makes a pretty good glue -- I learned the hard way.

More info than you ever wanted. The cost for this, ahem, "expert" advice is a visit to GraceStudios.

RedAngel wrote:

More info than you ever wanted. The cost for this, ahem, "expert" advice is a visit to GraceStudios.

There's always a catch!

Well ok, I shall go see what that's all about then.