Can fabric be painted? Or faux leather?
❤️ At your own risk
Frenchic Paint products have not been tested or intended for use on leather furniture, faux leather, or fabric painting, but still eager painters try to paint all kinds of surfaces with Frenchic Paint products.
Some projects succeed, others do not.
We cannot officially recommend painting fabric or leather, but if you still want to try (at your own risk, of course), here are a few tips:
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The surface to be painted is prepared with thorough cleaning and rinsing. The surface must be completely clean and dry. Whatever detergent you use, it must always be rinsed off carefully with clean water from the surface to be painted. This is the key to the adhesion of lime paint.
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You can sand the dry paint surface between each coat if you wish and finish the surface with Frenchic furniture wax. Another technique is to paint the layers without sanding.
When painting leather furniture (old or new), it is often difficult to know the origin of the leather and the furniture because it may have had several owners during its lifetime.
Often this means it has perhaps been treated with numerous different products like leather care agents to make the furniture easier to clean.
The chair in the picture is painted with a mix of Love Letter and Wolf Whistle shades.
These protective and care products make painting the surface very difficult because they are designed to ensure that other substances are easily removable and that nothing sticks to the surface.
It is possible that painting a pre-treated surface will result in good adhesion, but relatively soon the paint may still peel off the surface.
Leather naturally tends to crack and split as it ages or dries out.
Although Frenchic paint can initially cover cracks, it does not do so indefinitely, and the cracks will reappear over time.
Dirt and grease
Older furniture has often accumulated layers of dirt and grease over the years and has been heavily used (pets, smoking, etc.), especially on ends, armrests, and other areas under heavy wear.
Even Sugar Soap can have a very hard time removing such dirt, which may be obvious on old furniture, but to succeed, the cleaning must be done as thoroughly as possible, otherwise the paint will peel off over time.
Cleaning instructions should be remembered and also done when painting wooden furniture; the surface to be painted must be clean and dry. The water-based Frenchic Paint series repels greasy and oily surfaces.
The chair in the picture is painted with Frensheen metal pigment paint, Bronze.
The intended use affects durability
If you paint a leather armchair intended to be a storage place for clothes and a bedspread in the corner of the bedroom - the paint surface will probably last longer than on an armchair used daily by the whole family and pets.
So choose a high-quality chalk paint for your project.
Do you want to try Frenchic series paints on fabric?
In this project too, start by cleaning the surfaces to be painted.
There can be many execution styles, but here is one as a model:
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Vacuum the fabric parts clean of fabric dust and lint and wash off stains.
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Before you start painting, moisten the fabric with a spray bottle/water,so it doesn't absorb too much paint - or paint the first layer clearly with thinned paint, making the technique closer to dyeing the fabric. Adding layers deepens the color shade.
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2-3 paint layers are needed depending on the fabric to be painted.Tightly woven cotton or linen is the best to paint.Long-pile fabrics, like velvet, can dry stiff. You can sand or brush the dry layers between painting, which makes them dry soft. Finally, add Frenchic wax if needed.
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Let it dry completely between paint layers. This helps reduce paint consumption and improve coverage.
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If you use Lazy Range paints, you can add wax if you want, but the painted surface does not need any protection.Lazy Range series paints already have wax included in the paint.
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If you use Al Fresco series paints, you can finally sand or brush the surface lightly again to soften it.
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Try different techniques, methods, and tools and find the ones that suit your project from these instructions. Try taping; make stripes or use a stencil to create star or other patterns on fabric or a chair seat / backrest.
Enjoy your experimenting moments with the Frenchic series!
Do you want to see what others have painted with Frenchic series paints?
