How to transform fabric with paint!

Yes you really can update upholstered furniture or other fabrics with chalk paint!

We stock Dixie Belle Chalk Paints and Fusion Mineral Paints which are both fab brands to use when painting fabric.

Here are some top tips on how to achieve a flawless finish that is smooth and feels like leather! 

What is important to understand is that every fabric will take paint a bit differently, therefore it is important to experiment a bit to see if you will like how it will turn out. Painting a seating cushion? Try the bottom side with all the steps to see how it turns out before tacking your entire couch or chair!

The most successful types of fabric to paint are

• cotton
• polyester
• burlap
• vinyl
• leather

You can also paint velour and velvet but they are a bit more tricky to get a perfect finish with.

 Step 1: To prepare the fabric for painting you must first clean the piece with soap and water. Then you’ll want to mist the fabric thoroughly with a nice misting bottle filled with water. Keeping the fabric moist will allow for the richness of colour to reach its full potential. Following that, you can go on and dampen your paint brush with water as well.

Step 2: Grab your favourite paint because its painting time! You’ll want to start by applying the paint working in small sections and continuously misting the fabric to keep it damp. If you find that the paint is sitting on top of the fabric rather than soaking in, you can dilute the paint with some water (ignore this if you are painting on vinyl or leather!)

Step 3: After the first coat of paint is dry, you can lightly sand with a Dixie Belle Paint sanding sponge. This sanding sponge is so handy and helpful! It makes the perfect tool for softening up your fabric. Your fabric will be smoother than creamy peanut butter by the time you’re through with this step. Depending on the size of your piece of fabric, you may want to apply a second coat of paint, or even a third, once again ensuring that you keep the work area and the brush damp, sanding again when you complete each coat.

Step 4: This is possibly the easiest step yet. All you have to do is allow your piece to dry. Put your feet up!

Step 5: Finally, finish off with Easy Peasy Spray Wax. This easy-to-use wax certainly lives up to its name and will ensure that your piece has a durable finish.

Voila! You've done it! Now you can paint all kinds of funky fabrics. Feel free to have fun and get creative with it too, you never know what brilliant looking pieces can come of it. 

I would love to see what you have renovated using this technique - join our private Facebook Group Furniture Painting Hub with Shabby Nook to share your creations and be part of our fab community of painty peeps!