There was a time when spray painting vinyl tended to be a rather difficult and unpleasant job. Which for the most part came down to the fact that the available spray paints themselves weren’t exactly what you’d call advanced. Which in turn meant that droplets, beads and blobs were largely inevitable.

As such, achieving genuinely impressive results wasn’t something that happened routinely.

These days though, spray paint technology has come a long way to say the least. As such, it’s now simply a case of knowing what you’re doing with the stuff, in order to produce outstanding results. Spray paint is comparatively quick and easy to use, but you still need to know how to get the job done properly.

As far as vinyls go, there are a few specific guidelines to follow, which should make the whole process significantly easier. Proceed in accordance with the following and you will probably find it difficult to go wrong:

1. Clean Vinyl Surfaces

First of all, you are going to need to ensure that the vinyl surfaces you intend to paint are immaculately clean. If there’s any dirt, dust, debris or residue of any kind present on the surface, you need to ensure it is removed before going ahead. If the surface is particularly dirty, you’ll need to give it as much time and attention as necessary to get it clean. It’s important to remember that when it comes to spray paint, the layer of paint itself is so thin that any imperfections on the surface are guaranteed to show through clearly. Regardless of how meticulous or professional you are with the subsequent paint application, you cannot use spray paint to cover surface imperfections.

2. Skip the Primer

Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t always 100% mandatory to use primer with all painting jobs. Most perhaps, but if you are looking to spray paint vinyl surfaces, it’s usually safe to proceed without using primer first. Just as long as the surface itself is immaculately clean and you’re happy to rough it up a little with some fine sandpaper, you should find that the paint goes on pretty easily and evenly. In fact, it’s also possible to pick up spray paints today which have been specially designed so as to not require any pre-sanding of the surface.

3. Spray Evenly from a Distance

One of the most common mistakes made by many of those new to spray painting is using spray paints too close to the surface itself. Which almost always results in a rather uneven and generally amateurish kind of finish. Generally speaking, every type of spray paint will come with its own unique instructions and guidelines, with regard to how it should be used. More often than not however, it is recommended that the can be held between 4 and 6 inches from the surface you are painting. It’s important to remain as consistent as possible, ensuring that the same distance is kept when applying for each additional layer of paint.

4. Preventing “Orange Peel”

There are basically two common reasons why spray-painted surfaces occasionally present something of an unfortunate ‘orange peel’ effect. The first of which being that the paint itself has been applied far too generously, resulting in a coating that has been unable to dry properly. The other is that the paint dries out prior to having sufficient time to adhere to the vinyl surface properly. In the case of the latter, this can be due to imperfections in the surface itself, which may not have been cleaned or prepared properly. When this kind of problem presents itself, there is little you can do rather than take to the surface with sandpaper and start again.

5. Have Patience

Last but not least, spray painting vinyl surfaces is actually relatively simple and straightforward. The only problem being that it demands a fair amount of patience. If you attempt to rush the job, you are largely guaranteed to come out with amateurish and unfortunate results. Just because spray painting is in its own right simpler and faster than other types of painting does not mean you can rush things to completion. Take your time with the application process, give every coat as much time as it needs to dry fully and do yourself the favor of ensuring that you don’t have to go through the entire process once again, simply having run out of patience along the way.