# I want to paint my main sail



## mountforever

How the hell do I do it? What kind of paint? I was just thinking of laying it out, taping it off, and using an airless hvlp gun to spray (lightly) the one color logo I want on my sail. Any specific types of paint or any suggestions?


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## Faster

Most logos and sail numbers on sails nowadays are stick-on. Not too expensive these days and bound to turn out/last much better....


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## Izzy1414

Faster said:


> Most logos and sail numbers on sails nowadays are stick-on. Not too expensive these days and bound to turn out/last much better....


Just vinyl lettering, Ron, or some different material?


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## mountforever

here's what i would like to do


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## nightowle

given that you have the art, it probably can be re-created as an applique on some sort....just do some web searching; particularly with banner and sign companies.


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## Faster

Izzy1414 said:


> Just vinyl lettering, Ron, or some different material?


We bought a used J105 main a while back and took the logo and sail numbers off, they looked like regular vinyl, maybe a bit thinner than the average decal.

Any vinyl sign store could make that logo easily, then make sure the sail is really clean before you stick it on. Sailmakers will carry the 'right' stuff, if in fact there's really a difference.


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## Jeff_H

The sail lofts use a sticki-back dacron material for logos that are CRC cut or else traced and cut with an exacto knife. The material in questions is called Insignia Cloth or is called Adhesive backed Insignia fabric. It is typically a light weight dacron that has been UV stabilized.

Here are a couple sources:
Insignia Cloth

Sail Numbers, Insignia and Logos

I would not try to paint a sail but if I were going to dye it, i would look for a waterproof silk screeneing paint, and silk screen it.

Jeff


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## canadianseamonkey

Don't use paint on your sail unless you want to ruin it. Like everybody else said, get it done professionaly.


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## ChicagoNewport27

*Yes! Give it a try!*

You can certainly paint your sails.

Sailrite recommends acrylic from Dick Blick or similar. Read this post:
ASP TALK
_"Q: Hi guys, does anyone have experience painting logo's on dacron sails. What type of paints did you use or suggest and how did you apply the paints._

_A:Any artists acrylic paint should work. I use Grumbacher's "Hyplar" (check my spelling). We will have 18 inch adhesive backed stencil material in the next catalog (and on the net very soon). It is available now -- use part #1013 -- it is $4.25 per yard."_

Also, sailboats aren't the only places you'll find Dacron.

People who make ultralights, hang gliders, kayaks, and Radio-Controlled model airplanes cover their wood and metal frames in Dacron, in weights similar to what we use for our mainsails. They then paint them. (Check out this replica P51 Mustang built from wood, covered in Dacron, then painted to look authentic!)

Some recommend a good oil-based paint, while others have had luck with exterior grade latex.

Granted, RC model airplanes and hang gliders aren't exposed to the elements as much as your mainsail may be, and also, the Dacron used in a hang glider isn't furled at the end of the day. I'm not sure how well a painted main would stand up to being furled and stretched repeatedly, nor am I sure how well a painted main would hold up to being exposed to the elements for hours at a time for years on end. While your main won't be up 24/7, it will be exposed a great deal more than a RC model plane or hang glider would be. While the paint probably wouldn't hurt the fabric any, the paint itself would be tough to maintain an keep looking good. It could turn into a big eyesore of bleeding, fading, chipping, or peeling paint by year 3!

Google "painting Dacron" and you'll find a metric buttload of useful advice.... mostly on websites where people build hang gliders, ultralights, dacron-covered kayaks, and the like.

For example:

Ultraviolet Absorption of Latex Paints by Kirk Huizenga
UV barrier Latex Paint, using Latex paint as a UV barrier on aircraft, latex paints as UV barrier for ultralight aircraft fabric.

Re: Painting Dacron
Re: Painting Dacron

From "Latex Paint for Boats by Dave Carnell":
_"Platt Monfort recommends for waterproofing the Dacron® skins of his Geodesic Airolite boats "...the simplest method being a good quality
exterior latex house paint." "_
Latex Paint for Boats

Painting with Latex House Paint 
_One of our Fly Baby restorers is painting his aircraft with latex house paint.
He's been posting his progress to the Fly Baby mailing list, and is allowing me to repost his messages to my web page:_
Painting with Latex House Paint - AviationBanter

_A Pietenpol builder by the name of Kirk Huizenga did a series of
spectrometry tests on several colors of latex. Turns out that there's
nothing special about black, nothing at all. Paint it with whatever
color you want, they all protect from UV equally well. His report, the
transformed data and the analysis are available (pdf & xls files):
_File Library Detail Kirk's Piet Files

Painting a Fly Baby with Latex House Paint
Painting a Fly Baby With Latex Paint - Fidoe

Hope any of that helps!

Best,
Ken


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## xsboats

One thing that old aircraft , replicas, and airolite watercraft have in common is that their cloth skins are stretched taut over a framework prior to painting and then stay that way. I would have to question whether the paint would crack on a surface that is repeatedly folded and creased.


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## 2Gringos

I built a lot of RC airplanes, but we used some stuff called Monokote, which is a shrink wrap plastic kind of stuff. The old canvas-and-dope airplane coverings are kinda vintage, if you know what I mean.

I would agree that any kind of paint you use would likely flake off and crack at the stress points. Lets face it, paint is not designed to be that flexible. If it were me, I would experiment with some small pieces of sail material and dyes. See if I could get crisp edges, not fade out, etc.

Are sails coated to prevent them from absorbing water and getting heavy? 

I have also been using iron on patch material made to fix canvas tents and bimini's to repair a kite board sail lately, and it's working pretty well. Its a sticky light woven material with heat activated adhesive.


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## canadianseamonkey

A sail is just way too expensive to be messing around with. Get it done by a professional. That way you have somebody to blame besides yourself if he messes up the job. If you do paint it, please post some feedback.


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## Daydreamer22

*Paint my main sail*

DON'T paint it. Your sail is constantly in motion, stretching, flexing, folding, and ANY paint will crack. Got any old tee shirts? How long does it take before they look like crap? Use the vinyl or dacron applique method for something that is repairable for the future. Unless there is a way to accurately DYE the fabric?
A sail loft is still your best bet for accurate advice.


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## filbert

Two and a half years later: Did you ever complete your mainsail image?
View my three painted V-15 mains at sailset.com 
The red, white, and blue one was the first one done in 2003 and still looks good - it has outlasted the sail. The other two with faces were done probably in 2007 and 2010.
I used acrylic in a method that does not crack off.
Find my email address on that site if you want specifics.


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## hellosailor

I wouldn't use "paint" on cloth.

Get the silk-screening inks that are used to apply silk screen art to shirts and jackets. Maybe some of them are called "paint" but look for something designed to be applied to CLOTH by silk-screening. You should be able to spray that as well, but I'd expect a stencil and silk screen squeegee to be the simplest way to do it, and ensure the right coating thickness. Too much is usually as bad as too little.


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## Brent Swain

Friends have had good results with water based acrylic . Hangs in there well, for years. Keep it well thinned, or it will make your main stiff, but it wont hurt anything.


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## nolatom

Just met my first painted mainsail the other day (furled). It looked goofy and felt real heavy, like storm trysail cloth rather than everyday working-sails dacron. And it was making dandruff where paint edges used to be.

I can see doing it for "art", but not for actual sailing.


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## Brent Swain

Dark acrylic keeps the UV out.


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## CorvetteGuy

Try a spray bottle of rusty water, rust stains stick to dacron very well:laugher:laugher


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## chasegusdiaz

*wow nice image*

for a sail design....I have done my own sail painting for a friend and I liked the results. The hard part was finding a place for the sail. The image I painted was of a cool cat. This was a one color image (black). This was about 7 years ago and my friend is still happy with it. I used speedball fabic paint and airbrushed most of it. The only hard part is getting the image on the sail....good luck.


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## hellosailor

Any good craft store should have someone who can tell you how to get images transferred. The traditional way would be to make the outline of your image on plain brown kraft paper. Draw it, tile it from compter printouts, whatever. Then using carbon paper and a pounce wheel, transfer the outline to the sail and paint away just like a big "color by numbers" kit. Very much the same way you'd transfer a dressmaking or sewing pattern, same materials, tools.

I'd expect the paint to bond better if the sails were (oh no!) freshly washed before the painting and all started.


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## AllThumbs

Here are the hand painted sails filbert is referring to:


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## MedSailor

mountforever said:


> here's what i would like to do


I feel like I'm failing my ink blot test here...... what exactly is it?

When you do paint, post pictures!!! Are you going to do it free hand or use a stencil?

MedSailor


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## kevinbrucebrown

I got great results on my 6 year old Dacron mainsail using Rustoleum for Plastics (see link... this stuff sticks to slippery plastics like polyethelyne and polypropylene) by masking and painting both sides after thorough detergent cleaning and sun drying. This picture shows my refurbished 1978 Tremolino trimaran this year, after 5 years of use and exposure.
Its not rocket science...Do a test patch and go for it.

https://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=118


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## jimgo

Kevin, htat's pretty neat! How do you store the sail when it isn't in use? Is the paint flaking off at all? Did you paint one side or both sides? How much do you use your boat/sail?


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## kevinbrucebrown

on the boom in a sunbrella sailcover...
Only in afew spots has there been any wearoff ...mostly where I should have cleaned better. I sail Galveston bay and some offshore in the Gulf of Mex. about once a week.
I think newer sails would even hold up better. Its worth noting that the paint has served to protect stitching and cloth better than the unpainted areas.


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## blt2ski

The pink is Sherwin Williams Jazz Pink on a 25 yr old dacron main. It is one of the more flexable exterior latex paints. Another couple I know did a sail from that brand style. I did a main for a breast cancer research fund raiser a few weeks ago. This is a pic of sons having a in memory toast for there grandma who died from this desease 22 yrs ago during the race.

Marty


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## kevinbrucebrown

I already suffer from acute Carbon and Kevlar envy when I see some of the newer sails on local multihulls, but now....LATEX ENVY...
Looks like painting sails is more common than I thought.


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## Tallswede

I was thinking of painting or dyeing the U/V cover on my roller furling jib. I'm changing the canvas on my boat to green from faded black. Got a new bimini and companionway cover and would like to match the jib cover and outboard cover if possible. Wondering if a textile dye might work better? Does the paint penetrate the fibers at all or just kinda sit on top? I'm worried that paint on the jib cover would crack off quickly when rolling up and unrolling.

Kevin


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## SloopJonB

You can't dye Dacron, Acrylic or Nylon after the fact - coloured fibers are manufactured that way, they won't absorb a dye once they are drawn.


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## overbored

I have done nylon spinnaker fabric with nylon fabric printing ink. i did a 25' high name on a spinnaker by hand that has been there for three years. seen the AC boats. or the Volvo 70's those are done on a fabric printer with fabric inks
Spinnakers


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## Tallswede

SloopJonB said:


> You can't dye Dacron, Acrylic or Nylon after the fact - coloured fibers are manufactured that way, they won't absorb a dye once they are drawn.


Hmm, you're probably right. Looking closer at my UV cover, I think it is sunbrella or something like it. I know my outboard cover is. It should hold dye ya think? If not, I may try paint.

Kevin


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## SloopJonB

Sunbrella is Acrylic. I know it feels like canvas and that it should take dye but I really don't think it will - it's plastic, not "fibre".


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## mcurcio1989

*Re: Yes! Give it a try!*

I am currently building an aircraft and my experience lies more on the aircraft end of things. I have owned several sailboats, which is why I belong to this forum. I came here to get information on painting my sailcloth wings on the aircraft I am building. I have realized an important issue which you have not raised. I want to set the record straight even if this is an old thread.

The aircraft and information you are referencing is for aircraft covered with bare dacron that is not pre shrunk. The difference between this and sailcloth dacron is that it is a lighter material, it was not heated to shrink it to final size by the manufacturer, and most importantly it does not have coatings to assist in the sewing process. I have not confirmed the latter from a sailcloth manufacturer but I have been informed by knowledgeable individuals that there is a sort of wax that is applied to sailcloth that assists with the sewing and this has a significant affect with allowing paint to adhere properly. All the aircraft you have attached information on use dacron glued to the frame and then stitched in place. Most ultralight aircraft, hang gliders, etc. use sailcoth socks which are pre-sewn to the exact dimensions and are held taught mechanically to the aircraft frame. Typically these are pre-dyed fabric and clear is applied after installation but I have been told that for some reason color does not adhere well. I don't understand why (this may be a carry over from days of old when base coats did not have the flexibility that clear does). Regardless for the purpose of this thread this difference needs to be recognized.



ChicagoNewport27 said:


> You can certainly paint your sails.
> 
> Sailrite recommends acrylic from Dick Blick or similar. Read this post:
> ASP TALK
> _"Q: Hi guys, does anyone have experience painting logo's on dacron sails. What type of paints did you use or suggest and how did you apply the paints._
> 
> _A:Any artists acrylic paint should work. I use Grumbacher's "Hyplar" (check my spelling). We will have 18 inch adhesive backed stencil material in the next catalog (and on the net very soon). It is available now -- use part #1013 -- it is $4.25 per yard."_
> 
> Also, sailboats aren't the only places you'll find Dacron.
> 
> People who make ultralights, hang gliders, kayaks, and Radio-Controlled model airplanes cover their wood and metal frames in Dacron, in weights similar to what we use for our mainsails. They then paint them. (Check out this replica P51 Mustang built from wood, covered in Dacron, then painted to look authentic!)
> 
> Some recommend a good oil-based paint, while others have had luck with exterior grade latex.
> 
> Granted, RC model airplanes and hang gliders aren't exposed to the elements as much as your mainsail may be, and also, the Dacron used in a hang glider isn't furled at the end of the day. I'm not sure how well a painted main would stand up to being furled and stretched repeatedly, nor am I sure how well a painted main would hold up to being exposed to the elements for hours at a time for years on end. While your main won't be up 24/7, it will be exposed a great deal more than a RC model plane or hang glider would be. While the paint probably wouldn't hurt the fabric any, the paint itself would be tough to maintain an keep looking good. It could turn into a big eyesore of bleeding, fading, chipping, or peeling paint by year 3!
> 
> Google "painting Dacron" and you'll find a metric buttload of useful advice.... mostly on websites where people build hang gliders, ultralights, dacron-covered kayaks, and the like.
> 
> For example:
> 
> Ultraviolet Absorption of Latex Paints by Kirk Huizenga
> UV barrier Latex Paint, using Latex paint as a UV barrier on aircraft, latex paints as UV barrier for ultralight aircraft fabric.
> 
> Re: Painting Dacron
> Re: Painting Dacron
> 
> From "Latex Paint for Boats by Dave Carnell":
> _"Platt Monfort recommends for waterproofing the Dacron® skins of his Geodesic Airolite boats "...the simplest method being a good quality
> exterior latex house paint." "_
> Latex Paint for Boats
> 
> Painting with Latex House Paint
> _One of our Fly Baby restorers is painting his aircraft with latex house paint.
> He's been posting his progress to the Fly Baby mailing list, and is allowing me to repost his messages to my web page:_
> Painting with Latex House Paint - AviationBanter
> 
> _A Pietenpol builder by the name of Kirk Huizenga did a series of
> spectrometry tests on several colors of latex. Turns out that there's
> nothing special about black, nothing at all. Paint it with whatever
> color you want, they all protect from UV equally well. His report, the
> transformed data and the analysis are available (pdf & xls files):
> _File Library Detail Kirk's Piet Files
> 
> Painting a Fly Baby with Latex House Paint
> Painting a Fly Baby With Latex Paint - Fidoe
> 
> Hope any of that helps!
> 
> Best,
> Ken


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## hellosailor

I don't know about any wax or sizing being applied to sailcloth in order to make it easier to sew. Most or much cloth does have sizing applied for that reason, that's why your [sic] mother said to always wash new clothes beofer you wear them the first time.

But Dacron sailcloth of any good quality is _calendared_. That is, the finished cloth, before any sewing or cutting, is sent through high pressure rollers that squeeze a layer of plastic resin onto and into the surfaces of the fabric. That's why new sails have a stiff plastic feel to them and old blown-out sails are like bed linens, as the resin wears off.

So with newish Dacron sails, you are not painting on Dacron at all. You are trying to paint on some type of resin plastic!

Better to experiment with something unobtrusive in the corner of the sail before you find out the hard way how poor the adhesion may be. Paint can become "dandruff" for a long long time.

Or if you've got old soft sails with nothing but Dacron left...you're in luck.


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## tyler en cavale

I was sailing one a very calm day and decided it was a good time to paint my inflatable that was nested under the main boom. I was using the expensive west marine inflable boat paint. Before it was dry a squall was fast upon me. I hastily dropped the main. After the squall past I raised the main again but now with rorschach designs all over it. I tried everything short of fire to get it off the sail. After a few years the paint was still there every bit as flexable and shinny as the first day. I think actually those large spots where the only places the sail never needed any repair.


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## Diana Steele

mountforever said:


> How the hell do I do it? What kind of paint? I was just thinking of laying it out, taping it off, and using an airless hvlp gun to spray (lightly) the one color logo I want on my sail. Any specific types of paint or any suggestions?





filbert said:


> Two and a half years later: Did you ever complete your mainsail image?
> View my three painted V-15 mains at sailset.com
> The red, white, and blue one was the first one done in 2003 and still looks good - it has outlasted the sail. The other two with faces were done probably in 2007 and 2010.
> I used acrylic in a method that does not crack off.
> Find my email address on that site if you want specifics.


Where can I see the pictures ?


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