Painting a nylon belt/strap?

[accidentalrebel]

I have this belt that I want to paint yellow. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience painting on this kind of material.

I'm afraid that spraypainting the material directly might not work as the material might just sip through the material.

I'm thinking of doing the same technique I've learned on how to spraypaint foam. I'd lather it with PVA glue, paint it with a primer, and then applying the yellow on top. I'm willing to test this out on a small strip of this material but just wanted to ask if there are any "watch outs" I need to be aware about before I do it.

Thanks!

 

[Riceball]

Acrylic paint will do the trick. It'll probably take several layers since most to all yellow acrylics are thin in my experience. You might be able to primer it and then paint it but acrylics will stick to it and stay painted. I once had a nylon web/pistol belt extender that came in black nylon but I painted it green to better match my issue belt. Trust me when I say that acrylic paint will stick to anything that's remotely fabric like and once dry it's impossible to remove.

 

[accidentalrebel]

Acrylic paint will do the trick. It'll probably take several layers since most to all yellow acrylics are thin in my experience. You might be able to primer it and then paint it but acrylics will stick to it and stay painted. I once had a nylon web/pistol belt extender that came in black nylon but I painted it green to better match my issue belt. Trust me when I say that acrylic paint will stick to anything that's remotely fabric like and once dry it's impossible to remove.

So based on your reply I can just skip the PVA glue and just apply the primer directly.

And yes, I'll be using acrylic paint.

Thanks!

 

[Riceball]

So based on your reply I can just skip the PVA glue and just apply the primer directly.

And yes, I'll be using acrylic paint.

Thanks!

You should be able to do that, but you might not even need the primer depending on how opaque your paint is. Primer would only be needed if the yellow paint is on the thin side, like a lot of yellows I've used have been. But if it's not too thin but the original color shows through then you'd just need to add a few coats. I'd do a first coat with the paint watered down to make it go on easier then add additional coats as needed once it's dried.

 

[zapwizard]

I haven't done this my self, but assuming the belt is nylon: You can remove the existing color, and re-dye it.
Rit sells a color remover, and you can then use Rit dye to re-dye the belt whatever color you want.

 

[Riceball]

I haven't done this my self, but assuming the belt is nylon: You can remove the existing color, and re-dye it.
Rit sells a color remover, and you can then use Rit dye to re-dye the belt whatever color you want.

Depending on the opacity of the paint, it's easier & probably cheaper to just paint it over with acrylic paint. Once dry, acrylic is permanent and will have no problem with adhering to the nylon. Like I said in my original post, I actually painted a nylon web/pistol belt extender with green acrylic paint and wore it several times to desert in 29 Palms and neither the sun nor the sand had any appreciable effect on the paint. I've also gotten acrylics on several different articles of clothing in the past and they never washed out or even really faded, all that seemed to happen was that it got softer with each wash and became more like the fabric was originally dyed with those colors rather than having paint on them.

 

[accidentalrebel]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Will be painting the belt today and will be posting the results here.

 

[accidentalrebel]

I finished painting the belt. As I feared the paint did not hold on to the surface. As Riceball has mentioned, Yellow spraypaint tend to be runny so they just slipped in between the fibers. Here's what it looked like after numerous unsuccessful coatings.


To fix this I decided to apply the other approach I mentioned on the other side. I lathered a couple coatings of wood glue on the whole side of the belt, sprayed primer, and then the yellow paint. Now it looks better.


I have read that wood glue is prone to cracking when stretched and bended. Mine won't be stretched that much so it's not too much a concern.

Hopefully this helps others who plan to do the same with their nylon belt!

 

[Riceball]

I would have just hand brushed acrylic on the belt, not spray paint. The acrylic would have almost certainly adhered to the bare belt with no problem, esp. after getting a base coat on it. The buckle, on the other hand, is a different matter and spray paint would work better, although primering the buckle would allow for acrylic paint to adhere to it.

 

[accidentalrebel]

I would have just hand brushed acrylic on the belt, not spray paint. The acrylic would have almost certainly adhered to the bare belt with no problem, esp. after getting a base coat on it. The buckle, on the other hand, is a different matter and spray paint would work better, although primering the buckle would allow for acrylic paint to adhere to it.

Yeah. I agree that brushed acrylic would have worked. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[Metallibeard]

Yeah. I agree that brushed acrylic would have worked. Thank you for your thoughts.

I finished painting the belt. As I feared the paint did not hold on to the surface. As Riceball has mentioned, Yellow spraypaint tend to be runny so they just slipped in between the fibers. Here's what it looked like after numerous unsuccessful coatings.
View attachment 1076344

To fix this I decided to apply the other approach I mentioned on the other side. I lathered a couple coatings of wood glue on the whole side of the belt, sprayed primer, and then the yellow paint. Now it looks better.
View attachment 1076350

I have read that wood glue is prone to cracking when stretched and bended. Mine won't be stretched that much so it's not too much a concern.

Hopefully this helps others who plan to do the same with their nylon belt!

Hello Accidental Rebel.

May I know what kind of primer did you use? I'm about to embark on a project to paint a section of my car floor mats. The cut pile carpet is of nylon material and I'm unable to find a fabric primer here in Malaysia, though I can find fabric paints.