Acrylic Paint Sealer? Not Acrylic Resolene!?!?!

[ShawnO]

hi...new the forum and appreciate all the knowledge and wisdom! A topic that's been touched on a lot..BUT...I'm making a guitar strap. Tooled and dyed with black oil dye except areas I painted wilt Angelus Acrylic paints. I thought acrylic Resolene made sense to seal it all. I did a 50/50 mix with water. On the dyed areas I got the exact results I wanted. The painted areas not so much...actually sort of thinned my paint? So question or recommendation request. What do I seal the paint with? Something to protect and seal. There was mention of some sort of varnish? What about Angelus acrylic finishers? Would like something that can coat the paint and then I could use the Acrylic Resolene over all of it once it dries...any thoughts??? Thanks very much!

[Colt W Knight]

How did you apply the sealer? Brushing or wiping it on will often yield poor results. Spraying is much better.

[ShawnO]

How did you apply the sealer? Brushing or wiping it on will often yield poor results. Spraying is much better.

I did use a soft foam type brush...and tried to keep very thin coats. The areas that were dyed look great...and honestly the areas that are painted blue, red and silver were not effected either...but the white was. I don't have an airbrush...other than that do you have recommendations for spraying? Appreciate your response...thanks.

[Colt W Knight]

I did use a soft foam type brush...and tried to keep very thin coats. The areas that were dyed look great...and honestly the areas that are painted blue, red and silver were not effected either...but the white was. I don't have an airbrush...other than that do you have recommendations for spraying? Appreciate your response...thanks.

So the problem is that most dyes and paints we use on leather are either water based or alcohol based. So, water/alcohol work as solvents. When you brush on a clear, all the water from the finish leeches into the already dried paint and leather, and the dyes/paints intermix degrading the color or causing runs or thinning. One way to combat this is to spray on several mist coats of your sealer which prevents excess water from penetrating the rest of the project. You can buy aerosols specificically designed for leather applications like saddle lac or wyosheen. These are lacquer based, so they use a different solvent and wont screw with the waterbased dyes and paints. However they are expensive. most sealers or clears you buy at the store are designed to go on hard surfaces, so when they dry, they will crack when you bend the leather.

Recently, I have started using Mop N Glo which works much like acrylic resolene, but its cheaper and easier to get. To spray it on, I mix it 50/50 with water, and use either a prevail sprayer or an air brush to apply several light coats. Has been working well for me. You can even buy hand held sprayers that have a pump, so they work like a prevail sprayer but don't require the cartridge.

mop n glo

Edited January 9, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[ShawnO]

So the problem is that most dyes and paints we use on leather are either water based or alcohol based. So, water/alcohol work as solvents. When you brush on a clear, all the water from the finish leeches into the already dried paint and leather, and the dyes/paints intermix degrading the color or causing runs or thinning. One way to combat this is to spray on several mist coats of your sealer which prevents excess water from penetrating the rest of the project. You can buy aerosols specificically designed for leather applications like saddle lac or wyosheen. These are lacquer based, so they use a different solvent and wont screw with the waterbased dyes and paints. However they are expensive. most sealers or clears you buy at the store are designed to go on hard surfaces, so when they dry, they will crack when you bend the leather.

Recently, I have started using Mop N Glo which works much like acrylic resolene, but its cheaper and easier to get. To spray it on, I mix it 50/50 with water, and use either a prevail sprayer or an air brush to apply several light coats. Has been working well for me. You can even buy hand held sprayers that have a pump, so they work like a prevail sprayer but don't require the cartridge.

mop n glo

That looks great!!! ...and thank you. Pardon my ignorance but when you are referring to the sealer, are you referring to the acrylic resolene and mop n glo ?? Determining the differences between sealer and finisher is a problem for me. What I have always done in the past was dyed and painted...then went over it with spray on Super Sheen. It works but It gave a little more "plasticky" look than I wanted. So thought I would progress and move into some sort of acrylic finisher or some sort or Resolene. So on your strap...you stain/dye...and then paint i assume? Following that, what do you do? You go over all of it with your mop n glow mixture and call it good? Would you mind to give me a little step by step? Thanks again.

[Sluggo001]

Have you tried heat setting your paint with a blow dryer?

That's what I do. Then, I apply 50/50 Resolene in several thin coats.

There are additives you can use that are meant for making acrylic paint permanent on fabrics that are machine washed

[ShawnO]

Have you tried heat setting your paint with a blow dryer?

That's what I do. Then, I apply 50/50 Resolene in several thin coats.

There are additives you can use that are meant for making acrylic paint permanent on fabrics that are machine washed

Thanks...when you refer to heat setting...are you just going over lightly with warm hair dryer? Is this directly after painting? thanks again.

[TRHLeather]

I had such a hard time with exactly the problem you are having. I bought a super cheap, single action airbrush for about $12 and hooked it up to a small compressor I already had. The results were amazing. The finish lays down in more uniform coats, I don't rub off any of the acrylic and the dye even looks better. Several thin coats with an airbrush also solves the streaking problems I had and the bubbles I used to struggle with.

Not only is it great for finish, I just finished using both water and oil dye with the airbrush on my latest project and i'm hooked. I am putting in an order for an airbrush compressor (the one I have is a small air nailer compressor and scares the crap out of me and everyone else in the house when it kicks in) and a couple of different airbrushes.

[ShawnO]

I had such a hard time with exactly the problem you are having. I bought a super cheap, single action airbrush for about $12 and hooked it up to a small compressor I already had. The results were amazing. The finish lays down in more uniform coats, I don't rub off any of the acrylic and the dye even looks better. Several thin coats with an airbrush also solves the streaking problems I had and the bubbles I used to struggle with.

Not only is it great for finish, I just finished using both water and oil dye with the airbrush on my latest project and i'm hooked. I am putting in an order for an airbrush compressor (the one I have is a small air nailer compressor and scares the crap out of me and everyone else in the house when it kicks in) and a couple of different airbrushes.

Excellent! Thanks...so you apply your acrylic paint with paint brushes...let it dry ...then apply your Acrylic Resolene with air brush? Is that correct? I have been bouncing around the idea of an air brush system.

[TRHLeather]

That's exactly what I do. I find it works great and gives a much more uniform coat than any other way I have tried.

[CrazedLemming]

Related to the blow dryer recommendation, you might try giving your paint a day or two to cure before putting a finish over it. An acrylic paint might feel dry after a couple hours, but it's not completely set yet.