Painting Sail

[junglejim01]

Hi, i have an old dinghy sail (420) that i want to paint up. It'll largely be used to display but it may occasionally go to sea. I'm wondering what type of paint would be best?
Thanks for any advice

 

[langstonelayabout]

Hi, i have an old dinghy sail (420) that i want to paint up. It'll largely be used to display but it may occasionally go to sea. I'm wondering what type of paint would be best?
Thanks for any advice

Use no paint at all; that is the best option.

I really can't imagine any reason why a modern-ish 420 sail would need painting: the old brown cotton sails of Thames Barges really don't have any similarity in their construction.

Out of interest, what are you hoping to achieve by painting the sail?

 

[Biggles Wader]

Hi, i have an old dinghy sail (420) that i want to paint up. It'll largely be used to display but it may occasionally go to sea. I'm wondering what type of paint would be best?
Thanks for any advice

Watercolours ------ then display it at the Tate Modern.

 

[[70521]]

Why not contact the major paint manufacturers?

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Use Acrylic paints as used for most paintings today; whether artist quality or student grade would depend on the importance of the project. There are 'special' mediums that are used to improve the flow of the paint when used on fabric. I don't know how they will perform on closely woven and sealed synthetic sailcloth so much depends on how porous is the fabric.
You can buy artist grade tubes (60ml size) for around €6 - €10 depending on the colour. From time to time Lidl has sets of tubes for sale and they are quite cheaper because they are student grade. They are also more fluid - which could be an advantage.

 

[Mikedefieslife]

I think Thinwater painted a new UV strip on one of his old laminate sails. He recommended dinghy paint since it's flexible.

 

[[3889]]

Pink, then park it in the middle of London. It will make you a household name like ...erm whatshisface.

 

[thinwater]

I think Thinwater painted a new UV strip on one of his old laminate sails. He recommended dinghy paint since it's flexible.

Recommended is perhaps a little strong. I am testing a number of paints, including several good acrylic house paints, buoy paints, sail-specific-paints, and inflatable paints. The inflatable paint is simply one of several that did not fail the initial 8-month cloth panel test.

The paint needs to be flexible, adhere well, withstand UV well, and block UV well. Inflatable paint ticks these boxes. In my case, I am looking for something that will work for sails that no longer justify the cost of a new UV cover, and in the case of older laminates, react poorly to needles, stiffness and weight.

Decoration is a totally separate matter, though I would think the same factors apply. Acrylic house paint, for example, will begin chipping quickly, within 6 months and perhaps sooner.

 

[junglejim01]

Thanks for all the advice.
This is for an outdoor art project - the sail will be displayed outdoors so needs to be weatherproof and ideally durable enough to be re-used/displayed multiple times.

 

[thinwater]

Thanks for all the advice.
This is for an outdoor art project - the sail will be displayed outdoors so needs to be weatherproof and ideally durable enough to be re-used/displayed multiple times.

Paint sticks better to old sails, so that is in your favor. Good luck!

 

[lw395]

I once re-proofed a knackered dinghy cover with ordinary polyurethane gloss house paint.
It worked surprisingly well.
I suspect on a sail, paint will tend to flake off if it flaps too much?
Leaving a trail of little coloured bits...

Alternatively you could use vinyl stickers or self-dhesive sailcloth?