Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hey masters of painting and construction ::::

I'm planning my PVC frame for a dressing room, and getting all matchy matchy , I'd like to consider painting it silver or black or something. Even painting white to cover the marks and make it look 'cleaner'

So what kind of prep will help it take the paint good , so it won't get all stratched up right away? Does the pipe need to be cleaned with alcohol or something? Will fingernail polish remover or alcohol take off the writing , marks, etc,. ?

Thanks y'all .

Julie

Julie, I would use some kind of paint thinner, acetone or maybe even isopropl alcohol, to clean the pipe...go to the Hdw store and get some Kylon FUSSION brand paint, it is made for plastics, comes in many colors and has worked well on plastics for me...
madjack

If you don't like the limited choice of colors Fusion comes in.... paint with Fusion first (maybe a white for a base) and then go over that with whatever color you choose for the final with a different brand of paint.

Even using the Fusion, I like to give the plastic surface a prep-sanding with 400 grit (or finer) just to give a little tooth for the paint to grab.

Just a little off topic...

if you are intending to work with pvc pipe these two links will be usefull to you.....

http://www.pvcworkshop.com/bendpipe.htm

and...

http://www.pvcplans.com/

madjack wrote:Julie, I would use some kind of paint thinner, acetone or maybe even isopropl alcohol, to clean the pipe...go to the Hdw store and get some Kylon FUSSION brand paint, it is made for plastics, comes in many colors and has worked well on plastics for me...
madjack

Agrees with MJ. We used it on all the plastic in our camper. The actetone or alcohol eliminates any plastic mold release residue. The fusion Paints really bond well to the plastics and we have'nt had a chip or scratch yet!

thanks everybody !!! I will certainly take your suggestions with me when I pick out the paint.

I had bought some of that paint for plastics for something else, but didn't think it did such a great job... but likely because I didn't rough up the item or it had some kind of residue.

I'm not going to be too picky about the color of the poles... just as long as they aren't obvious 3/4 pvc.

Julie

Hi, OKJewel, Diamond Girl :

SuperTroll had some really great websites and Madjack and the others had some good suggestions. I will just add that the professional sprinkler guy uses Methyl Ethyl Keytone (MEK) to clean the pipe before he glues them but I think acetone (fingernail polish remover) would work just as well for ya. I have used PVC pipe for a few projects and have just sanded the words off but have found that the pipe doesn't stay clean. I think that you may have the right idea by painting it. I have spray-painted PVC with no preparation at all (white dripper line connections sticking out of the ground) and it has held and still looks good (so far) for a year, even with the 100 degree sun on it.

Best Wishes,
Sharon

I'd check into dye before paint, paint will scrape off in time no matter how well you prep it.
There are dies made just for that purpose.

Julie...just for grins I went out and tested the PVC this evening...results are....denatured or rubbing alcohol won't touch the print on the pipe, lacquer thinner will sort of, but you have to rub a lot. Acetone...no problem. MEK is too "hot," it will almost melt the pvc, that's why it's used as a primer to the glue in a 2 stage process for chemically welding the joints. It creates a gummy surface, I wouldn't recommend it for an over all wipe on the pipe. Working at a sign shop, we used MEK to weld sheets of plex together, it's way hot!!!

If you want it white, wipe it down with acetone, real quick, let it dry well...If you want it painted, scuff it with a scotchbrite pad or sand with a fine grit and shoot it with the plastic paints that were previously recommended. Hey...this is just what I've found out on it all, others experience may vary depending on what batch of PVC they have....Doug

Dougie, thanks for the "myth busters" results! I thought of doing that same kind of thing this weekend.

I would like to try to paint the peices silver or gray, to look more non PVC ish... and match with the trailer.

I was in Lowe's last night , holding two 5' pieces of 3/4" up like the upper rails of a changing room.... luckily , no one was on that aisle.....

Hi Jewels,
When I sprayed my electric boxes I got really good results with red over smurf blue boxes by slightly spraying several coats. When I did the first I coated heavy and got runs.

Have fun. Can't wait to see the new Jewel box.

Acetone...no problem. MEK is too "hot,"

Thanks, Doug. It just goes to show that you guys give us better information than the pros do!
When I used acetone to take off the print on PVC, I found it was way too slow. Sanding was the quickest and easiest. Both sucked up the dirt tones afterwards really fast. Thankfully, I didn't use the MEK that the sprinkler guy suggested.

Locally, I've now gotten too much bad information from the professionals. From now on, I'm asking the guru's of trailer building and they are all on this website!

Thanks again,
Sharon

Hey Sharon,

I think you're right. There's a lot of guys here who know a lot about a lot! If you know what I mean!

Mike...

S. Heisley wrote: From now on, I'm asking the guru's of trailer building and they are all on this website!

I see "Rustoleum" has a new paint out. It says paint anything at any angle. No experience just seen the add.
Brwbier

FYI - the plastic paints are for hard plastics, the leave a sticky film on softer plastics that never really hardens. Instead use vinyl dyes for items like extension cords and such – that leads to why would you want to paint an extension cord – just ask my wife “to match” is her answer!