Painting/Stenciling Silnylon

A lot of people have used thinned silicone adhesives for coating, bonding, and laminating silnylon. There are a few old threads in this forum about that. Silicone adhesives are available in many colors, including some that are pretty opaque. You could just thin these with mineral spirits or hexane and paint it over a stencil.

Be aware that some silicone adhesives don't always cure well. I'm not sure why. I've had GE Silicone II cure poorly twice, and I had to scrape it off and try another brand (which worked great). It also happened with Permatex once. If it cures well, it will adhere strongly to the silnylon. Non-silicone adhesives or paints won't.

I've also applied thinned silicone adhesive to silnylon with an airbrush with good results. It remains a bit "tacky" after it cures. I tried silicone-based spray paint (high-temp stove paint) and it peeled off.

Post your results if you find something that works for you.

What about adding dye a some silicone and mineral spirits mixture and then painting it on?

I've actually been thinking about trying this too but I'm still finishing up my projects right now.

I worked in the Screen Printing Industry for many years. I recently formulated a nice gold ink for silnylon. Here is a recent photo of a test smear. I’ll do a cross hatch test on it tomorrow to check for adhesion.

What color do you want on your tarp? My gold formula is very opaque and looks good.

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Grams per square metre?
Crucial information!

cheers

29 grams per square meter if 305 mesh is used for the silk screen.

Craig only wants a 6"x6" square.

My tests showed the adhesion was good but not good enough for long term. I could dig my fingernail into the thicker layer of ink and scrape it off. I had to really pull hard on it but it came off. Normal hard handling of the fabric is ok. Wrinkle it up in a tight ball and no indication of delaminating or cracking. More testing is necessary.

Who doesn't want a golden pyramid shelter after seeing this?

I'm going to play around with some mixtures on some silnylon scraps this weekend.

I'm looking for an opaque red to go on MLD's olive brown.

Dan
A durable logo for tarps and tents would be cool. Let me know if you come up with something suitable. Maybe buy ink from you?
Gold would show up on most colors, as would silver.

I'll purchase a product today locally and test. I have an open mesh screen to pull an actual print through the fabric for a better laydown of ink.

Funny thing though, because the silnylon doesn't stick to spray adhesive I need to make a vaccum table in order to print it well. challenges :-)

I got a bottle of solvent and it was able to remove the silicone from the fabric. Moving in the right direction. Now it should be able to thin the ink and make it "bite" into the silicone for better adhesion.

I inquired at the post office concerning shipping of the ink and binding agent/solvent. Seems like I have to ship via usps ground service. Just wanted to give an update to say I'm still working on this project.

I'll be making available the binding agent and the metalic powder and also the formula for mixing your own ink with some materials available locally.

I'll also provide a stencil making service via my wife.

I’ve come up with a solution for packaging the ink/paint. Tube holds 3 ounces. Will have aluminum and gold colors to start with. In a couple of weeks I’ll have some available in gear deals. Viscosity will be good for screen printing and small brush painting.

This is an old thread :-)

If I would want a logo, I would print it on another material and sew/bond it to the silnylon. But most of my efforts with logos is to REMOVE them.

An old thread, same subject with an update.

If there is no longer an interest that’s ok. I ventured, I gained :-)

I couldn’t resist the satire opportunity.