Has anyone ever painted their plastic kayak with krylon fusion paint? It is made primarily for painting plastic. If you have an old faded kayak could it look new again?
No
It will peel off.
sorta…but i wouldn’t
I’ve used Fusion for painting interior trim parts in my firefly, rocker panels and console. After a good scrubbing and degreasing of plastic, the paint went on great. needed about a week to become reasonably hard. If you were to use it on a kayak, it would scratch up in no time at all and look awful. so leave it alone. and btw stuff like sunscreen makes it become gooey and peel.
Too much flexing
going on in a (plastic) Kayak to work well. Consumer spray paint is generally too brittle.
Works on royalex
I went to a local canoe shop to buy the Mad River spray paint, and the dealer suggested a hardware store spray paint is just as good (chemically the same). I have touched up a few canoes, and while never “good as new” there have been no major problems.
Waste of time
I put Krylon Fusion paint on my royalex canoe where it got scuffed up on a few rocks. It wasn’t long before it was worn off again. In time you can convince yourself that scratches and faded paint give your boat character.
Try treating it with 303 now and then.
It will seem to deepen the color and make it look less scuffy.
I have successfully painted decorative flashes on the top deck of one of my kayaks, and they have lasted over ten years. But paint an entire kayak? Heck, I would not even paint an entire canoe, nor would I bother painting an entire fiberglass kayak. Paint is not a good covering for a surface subjected to frequent wear. Some paints are better than others, but on polyethelene? No.
Use Rustoleum
I’ve said it before and will say it again… Rustoleum Painter’s Touch spray paint with a coat or two of either Rustoleum glossy or matte finish spray paint. If you’re going to paint a poly kayak, that’s the stuff to use. I’ve painted two of my kayaks from the cockpit forward using it and save for scratches on the bottom (who cares about the bottom?), I’ve never had peeling or anything others claim would happen. How it would do painting an entire kayak, I don’t know, but if you want to try it, that’s my suggestion on what to use.
http://www.michiganhockey.net/kayak/blackwater%20sideshot.jpg
http://www.michiganhockey.net/kayak/jasonpaddling.jpg
What painting technique did you use?
I have used both Rustoleum and regular Krylon, and what I find helps cut down on peeling is to use light, “dry” coats, never more than necessary for coverage. This result in a paint layer which sticks better to the boat than it does to itself, so that it is much less inclined to peel.
I would think you had to use a similar approach, just to get the great looking result you achieved.
Go Blue!
Coffee
spray bombed his yak too. the paint scratched off fast. within a few paddle trips it was worn looking , even with light coats.
Painting technique
I just hung up my kayak tying a rope to the front handle and made the design using contact paper. It sticks to the kayak and peels off cleanly. I started painting at the nose with dark blue and crossed over with different shades on down. Didn’t do anything underneath it, except for the two block M’s on the side I think I put a coat of primer on first. Only major scratching I’ve had is on the bottom, which isn’t an issue for me. Any other scratching is typically pretty easy to touch up.