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.

 

[visual800]

Dont you dare put no damn worthless one shot on that awning. Has the original lettering been painted or is it heatpressed vinyl? can you get more close up shots of lettering. In my experience once sunbrella has been lettered theres not much you can do to cover up existing lettering that wont make it look like crap, you will never paint the awning to macth background. I would suggest a reinstall of fabric

 

[Johnny Best]

You can paint Sunbrella with latex paint, but if the lettering was painted on it will always be seen because it is raised up. I tend to think like Visual800 that it is heatset vinyl because it looks clean and nice. If it is heatset vinyl you will be able to peel it off.

 

[RyanECS]

Dont you dare put no damn worthless one shot on that awning. Has the original lettering been painted or is it heatpressed vinyl? can you get more close up shots of lettering. In my experience once sunbrella has been lettered theres not much you can do to cover up existing lettering that wont make it look like crap, you will never paint the awning to macth background. I would suggest a reinstall of fabric

Yes you are probably correct, I’m just trying to give the customer a possible cost effective solution before he heads down the expensive new fabric route

 

[RyanECS]

You can paint Sunbrella with latex paint, but if the lettering was painted on it will always be seen because it is raised up. I tend to think like Visual800 that it is heatset vinyl because it looks clean and nice. If it is heatset vinyl you will be able to peel it off.

Lettering is painted for sure. I’ve tested an oil based paint and you are 100% correct, letters are raised and still show.

 

[Superior_Adam]

if you want to keep it cost effective I would print a banner and mount it over the top of that. There will be quite a bit of labor involved in cleaning, painting, and then repainting new wording.