Painting Cordura Nylon

[HoosierQ]

I have had great luck painting Kydex with Krylon plastic spray paint. I have an ESEE-4 in desert tan. The Kydex is now desert tan. It takes a long time for that stuff to cure on the plastic so I really don't know how it would work if you were in a hurry...I am not. It is sitting, still curing, three months later. I have so many knives and so many ESEE sheaths, I can afford to have a safe queen sheath for a while.

Now to the Molle back. It is black. I tried the same Krylon on a test piece of the same material and was truly shocked with the result. It is like the fabric soaked up the paint and left only the faintest trace of tan...like the nylon just shed the paint...it was a very strange effect.

I still want to get that cordura nylon into a tan. I realize that with flexion, some is going to maybe crack off (just as I realize that some of the paint on the Kydex is going to scratch over time)...that does not concern me. I need some sort of paint that I can use to make the whole sheath desert tan.

Has anyone very successfully painted black cordura nylon in an application like this?

 

[Phydeaux]

You might try some good ol' latex house paint. I used some latex house paint to make a pair of colored flip flops, the kind with the nylon straps (webbing type material). It worked pretty well. I was surprised.

Another thing you might try is fabric paint. Check some of the local craft stores.

Ric

 

[HoosierQ]

Thanks Phy! I have some very high quality Latex art paint...designed for painting cotton canvas. I think that will work well too. The information on your flip-flops is valuable. That sort of flexion would be a very good analogy for what I will need. Thanks...Latex it is.

 

[Phydeaux]

Try a test spot or on some scrap Cordura to see how it works. I used to work with a lady that would use late house paint to decorate sweatshirts, but sweat shirts usually have a high cotton content which helps with the paint adhesion.

Ric