Fabric paint

[RustyFrye]

Has anyone used fabric paint?

I always use the boot when I drive top-down. It's become quite faded. I was curious if anyone has tried any of the numerous fabric paints to return their boot to something more closely resembling the original black.

Thanks

[FUN X 3]

Re: Fabric paint

Good question. Same question goes for the softtop, mine has faded a bit in places, what is the best fix other than a new top?

[islandtime]

Re: Fabric paint

I've used fabric paint, but not for something of that scale. It could probably be done by thinning the paint enough to use an airbrush. You might consider taking it to an upholstry shop to have it re-dyed.

[RustyFrye]

Re: Fabric paint

I've used fabric paint, but not for something of that scale. It could probably be done by thinning the paint enough to use an airbrush. You might consider taking it to an upholstry shop to have it re-dyed.

I've done some online research regarding painting versus dyeing. Apparently when an item is dyed there is residual dye that must be washed out of the product. Painting doesn't have that issue. Upholstery painting is an example of where paint is used versus dye.

I was hoping someone has experimented with a particular brand. Upholstery paint comes in a spray. Perhaps lightly dusting would be an approach.

[Black Bird]

Re: Fabric paint

Go ahead and paint it Rusty, if it does not work I could recover it for you in the black flexible vinyl that looks like leather and even embroder the wings on it for you.
Bunny Lou

[RustyFrye]

Re: Fabric paint

Found a product with potential. Its called Simply Spray. Think I'll practice on a tee-shirt or maybe just try an edge first to see if I have good spraying technique. I'm afraid I'll probably need too many of these things. Of course if it works and I need 30 of them..... 30 x 5.00 (3.50 on sale) still beats the going retail/eBay/whatever tag.

[Elijahbird7]

Re: Fabric paint

When I bought my '04 Merlot, it was on the showroom floor with the sand boot in place. The boot was really dirty from showroom traffic, so I said they needed to clean that boot before I would purchase the car. They took it off, and sent it in the back to have the "prep guy" clean it. About 20 minutes later, the salesman was called to the back. He came back to tell me that the boot had been "ruined" by the prep guy because once he cleaned it, he used a hair dryer on it, and it "melted" the fabric in one small spot on the boot. The salesman then said they would order a new sand boot for the car. They included the "ruined" one with the car, so I got some of the black fabric spray at Pep Boys and gave it a couple of coats to turn it from sand to black. It worked fine, and if I ever put on a boot, I use the black one. The sand one the dealership got me (and actually delivered it to my house), is still in it's original plastic bag in the trunk, and has never been opened.
I'm curious if anyone has tried to have a sand, or other light top dyed black. My sand top gets black streaks on it from just going up and down, I haven't lowered the top since the last time I thoroughly cleaned it. I am really not fond of that color top at this point.

[doubutsu]

Re: Fabric paint

Guys, if you can, vacuum the top before you lower it. Any dirt on the top will rub into the cloth when lowered.