Sail paint

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MarksTRI

Hi to all... Has anyone tryed to paint there sails... flexible paint, what kind and where to purchase. I saw a sail boat years ago with black sails and it was very cool. i have an old set of sails I would like to paint black. The sailboat has a lot of black trim so black sails would set her off, make her pop!... Any info would help.. Thanks
Mark
 
Banooma

Banooma

.
Nov 30, 2007
272
Hunter 36 Forked River, NJ
Pick a high-quality outdoor latex in high gloss or semi-gloss, because anything else will be hard to wash dirt off. I would use high quality sprayer, or a smooth surface medium-nap roller rather than a brush, unless streaky is the look you're going for.

That would make it pop. Or something.
 
K

kendall

.
Aug 2, 2005
374
pearson ariel grand rapids
Semi-gloss spray lacquer works very well on most fabrics.
It's thin so adds very little weight and doesn't stiffen it any when applied lightly.

I've painted hundreds of things, tents, vinyl and cloth car seats, carpeting, awnings etc. Never a sail though, but some of the awnings were sailcloth.

Test on a small spot first to check it out.

Ken.
 
Ross

Ross

.
Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Re: I'd call a sail loft and

Acrylic house paint in gloss or semigloss will work some folk use old sails as drop cloths.
 
Ron20324

Ron20324

.
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
The Sailrite catalog has a stencil kit in their catalog. In describing it's use, they suggest for fabrics "100 percent acrylic latex non-chalking exterior semi gloss".
 
M

Marks TRI

Thanks

Hey folks, thanks for the ideas, if and when I get the sail painted and sailing I will take some picks and post..
Marks TRI
 
catsailor

catsailor

.
Jan 10, 2009
590
PDQ 32 Deale, MD
I think you will wish you didn't...

I have painted a number of awnings white, and they all pealed a little, eventually. On a cheap awning, so long as the white paint made it cooler, who cares. On a sail....

After a few years the sail will begin to dislike the folding and will peal.

The paint will change the shape of the sail, a bit. It will shrink the cloth, but not uniformly. This is what the awnings did.
 
BobM

BobM

.
Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Sherwin-Williams makes a latex paint called Super Paint, which is formulated to paint plastic trim boards. It is a little more expensive, but I just used it and it seems to result in a much more flexible coating than a regular latex. That could be a minus, though, as it seems less abrasion resistant.
 
K

kendall

.
Aug 2, 2005
374
pearson ariel grand rapids
The peeling is why I started using lacquer, it doesn't build a thick enough coat to peel, and stays flexible when used on cloth. The typical touch-up paint sold at the auto parts is also a good paint for the use.

Automotive carpeting that I painted was still looking good several years after.

Things I KNOW it works great on include velour, leather and vinyl seats, carpet, vinyl trim, auto dashboards, kick panels, door panels, and tents.

Ken.
 
jibes138

jibes138

.
Jan 27, 2008
3,086
ODay 35 Beaufort, NC
I don't recommend black

when sailing at night the black sails will make your boat that much harder to see by other vessels. Out at sea your steaming light wilth a white sail will light up the whole headsail giving other boats a clear picture of you. I'm not sure with a black painted sail that you would be able to see it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom