Preventing paint on boots from cracking?

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  • Hey there everyone.
    I'm currently working on a Mew Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew cosplay and while it's going pretty well I've stumbled across an issue that I don't know how to solve.

    I bought the perfect pair of boots but since they only came in brown and black synthetic leather I had to spraypaint them. I used red Liquitex spraypaint since this was the one recommended for dyeing shoes in most of the tutorials I found. They ended up looking pretty good and I was happy with the overall result. But after trying them on for the first time the paint started cracking pretty severely already and it looks really bad.

    Is there a way to somehow prevent the paint from cracking so easily?
    I will paint over the chipped paint with a regular brush to fix it up a little but it's definitely going to crack again once I wear the boots for the con. :C It's in a week though so I hope I'll be able to fix it in time.

  • With the same paint, it's definitely not going to work. Boots are soft and will bend somewhat, especially much around the ankles, and the paint with it. Bending that paint is like bending an uncooked spaghetti strand: it's impossible.

    What you have to look for is a type of flexible paint. Plasti dip maybe? I've never used it, but it's apparently rubbery from what I can find so far, and there are lots of images available of people using it on shoes.

    Good luck!

  • [QUOTE=Arilyde;5039411]With the same paint, it's definitely not going to work. Boots are soft and will bend somewhat, especially much around the ankles, and the paint with it. Bending that paint is like bending an uncooked spaghetti strand: it's impossible.

    What you have to look for is a type of flexible paint. Plasti dip maybe? I've never used it, but it's apparently rubbery from what I can find so far, and there are lots of images available of people using it on shoes.

    Good luck![/QUOTE]

    Thank you for the tip!
    Some people use Krylon paint as well apparently? But I've seen mixed opinions about it. Some people say it has the same effect and that it cracks. :/

  • Spray paint is for hard surfaces, not flexible ones. There is actual shoe paint, which is what you need.
    [url]https://angelusdirect.com/collections/paint[/url]

    Use a stiff scrub brush (like the kind you would use on a tile floor) to scrub off as much of the spray paint as possible. Layering other stuff over a cracking paint will do nothing to improve the cracking paint, you need to remove as much of the cracking paint as possible before re-painting with the right paint.

    This is why I hate a lot of tutorials that bill themselves as "cheap & easy!" because the results are often very poor quality.

  • [QUOTE=Penlowe;5039417]Spray paint is for hard surfaces, not flexible ones. There is actual shoe paint, which is what you need.
    [url]https://angelusdirect.com/collections/paint[/url]

    Use a stiff scrub brush (like the kind you would use on a tile floor) to scrub off as much of the spray paint as possible. Layering other stuff over a cracking paint will do nothing to improve the cracking paint, you need to remove as much of the cracking paint as possible before re-painting with the right paint.

    This is why I hate a lot of tutorials that bill themselves as "cheap & easy!" because the results are often very poor quality.[/QUOTE]

    Oh thanks so much! I've never heard of this type of paint before but it sure looks a lot more adequate than what I've been using.

  • On top of that, a lot of the cheap and easy tutorials for shoes are not dealing with synthetic leathers, but rather some kind of fabric (canvas, satin, etc) that can easily be stained or painted with a paint that soaks in. Synthetic leathers are probably the closest to "impossible to recolor" there is. There's nothing on the surface for the paint to grab onto and as you've seen, all it takes is the slightest flex of the plastic (for it is, technically, plastic) and the paint flakes off.

    If the shoe paint doesn't work, your only other option is to cover the books with fabric. It's very fast, but it does definitely look like fabric and you need to take care what kind of glue you use.

  • I haven't used the Angelus products mentioned above, but we've had good luck with Meltonian Nu-Life color spray. It's designed for shoes and boots, comes in many colors, covers well with just a couple very light coats, dries very fast, and can be had at local cobblers or Amazon. (not walmart or home depot)

    [url]http://www.meltonian.com/meltonian-color-spray-color-chart.html[/url]
    [url]https://www.amazon.com/Meltonian-Nu-Life-Shoe-Color-Spray/dp/B009WYRODG/[/url]


    These Merrell brand boots were originally matte black leather, we used a couple light coats of #624 Gold to turn them into super-comfy Batgirl boots. They do need a gentle touchup after a night of fighting crime or a day of walknig around a con - they get little scuffs and rubs, but after about three years they haven't cracked.


    [url=https://flic.kr/p/HxrSjq][img]https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7423/27266485932_60da850542_c.jpg[/img][/url]

  • Thank you all for your help!