Painting/inking awning

[RyanECS]

Hey all,

I have a customer that has moved into a unit that has a black awning with white text (inked I think) on it. The awning is in good shape and he needs the text changed/covered. Anyone have experience with painting a soft sided awning?

Any tips or paint suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

 

[rozic]

Hey all,

I have a customer that has moved into a unit that has a black awning with white text (inked I think) on it. The awning is in good shape and he needs the text changed/covered. Anyone have experience with painting a soft sided awning?

Any tips or paint suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Hey Ryan - It sounds like the awning fabric is a polyester weave, maybe the name brand Sunbrella. (Other awning materials are typically vinyl.) I had worked with several awning companies a s a freelancer for quite a while. To paint the Sunbrella , "One-Shot" or other oil based paints would work but would require 2 or more applications to make an even finish. Before painting I would use a paint mask using a high tac adhesive vinyl ( the vinyl paint mask material was not tacky enough to stay on the Sunbrella fabric ). If the mask is not a viable option, which it may not be in this case, then the glyphs and letterforms can be outlined first with a small stiff brush or roller striper, then filled with a larger brush. Note that the letters on the fabric now will probably "ghost" through the updated graphics as the material shrinks and expands differently on the blank fabric.
note: the adhesive vinyl mask may not be an option because there is nothing solid behind the graphics area for burnishing the vinyl film… unless you're planning to remove the cover to do the painting.

 

[RyanECS]

Hey Ryan - It sounds like the awning fabric is a polyester weave, maybe the name brand Sunbrella. (Other awning materials are typically vinyl.) I had worked with several awning companies a s a freelancer for quite a while. To paint the Sunbrella , "One-Shot" or other oil based paints would work but would require 2 or more applications to make an even finish. Before painting I would use a paint mask using a high tac adhesive vinyl ( the vinyl paint mask material was not tacky enough to stay on the Sunbrella fabric ). If the mask is not a viable option, which it may not be in this case, then the glyphs and letterforms can be outlined first with a small stiff brush or roller striper, then filled with a larger brush. Note that the letters on the fabric now will probably "ghost" through the updated graphics as the material shrinks and expands differently on the blank fabric.
note: the adhesive vinyl mask may not be an option because there is nothing solid behind the graphics area for burnishing the vinyl film… unless you're planning to remove the cover to do the painting.

Thanks for the info. I'll try a patch of the 1shot to test it out. Seems like this will be a challenge...

 

[rozic]

Thanks for the info. I'll try a patch of the 1shot to test it out. Seems like this will be a challenge...

if the material is vinyl the one-shot would probably not work. and also clean the surfaces before applyng the test etc.