Flight Suit Weathering SNAFU

Lidocaine · Jul 8, 2015

Ever have the moment when you realize that your project has totally gotten away from you? Here's a prime example!

I've read that other folks have mixed some flat black acrylic paint with glass cleaner, and used a small spray bottle to help mist the paint for some weathering on the flight suit. I started low, and got some decent results. Then I over adjusted the spray nozzle and broke it and sprayed some of the thighs of the suit. Key mistake here I think was getting impatient and not testing it before spraying again. Needless to say it went poorly, and I have some really huge dots that no amount of attempting to spread around would cause to dissipate.

I've washed the flight suit in hot water, wife tried soaking it in oxyclean for two days, but we've still got some fairly dark spots. I can attempt to darken/weather around them, but does anyone have good advice on how to fix this massive SNAFU?

Pic of the mess:

Mullreel · Jul 8, 2015

My initial thought is to go with it and blend it into the weathering. You might have to go a bit heavy on the weathering but you can probably still blend it.

My other thing I have done in the past is to use a bit of sandpaper to rough up the fabric and diffuse the "dots"

EEvansHilton · Jul 8, 2015

So my wife and I own a small side business making custom hand painted banners and flags for reenactors, pirate fans, etc. we use a latex based acrylic medium and 100% cotton heavy canvas so...accidents with paint and fabric? Oh my yes, have we been there.

Here's what works for us:
Get a clean spray bottle. Pick up some Goo Gone, some brush cleaner from Hobby Lobby or some such, and your Oxy Clean and a tooth brush with stiff bristles.

Mix about 1/2 part Brush cleaner with roughly 4 parts hot water. Spay a small amount of Goo Gone on a spot. Work it in with the toothbrush to start breaking up the spot. Then spray your H2O brush cleaner mixture on the spot. Break it up more with the toothbrush. Keep scrubbing away until it's mostly broken up and gone. Rinse the tooth brush really well. Sprinkle on a bit of Oxy Clean on the area and wet the brush. Use this to clean up the remaining mess and oil from the Goo Gone. Blot dry with a paper towel and then run it through the wash.

It's a lot of work but it works for us.

Sooo sorry Sir.

Mullreel · Jul 8, 2015

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That sounds like a better idea than mine.............

DeathProof · Jul 8, 2015

Mullreel said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That sounds like a better idea than mine.............

lol. I was gonna suggest the same thing. Sandpaper works wonders...although I did go a bit hard in some places and ended up with some minor holes that I had to patch

EEvansHilton · Jul 8, 2015

Still, you know small holes patched up seem to make a lot of sense from a weathering stand point.

toofastrobot · Jul 8, 2015

Rubber finger tips (the nubby ones for clerical filing work) are great for removing stuff too. Just has to be fairly new, gets stuff out of my jeans all the time.

Lidocaine · Jul 9, 2015

EEvansHilton said:
So my wife and I own a small side business making custom hand painted banners and flags for reenactors, pirate fans, etc. we use a latex based acrylic medium and 100% cotton heavy canvas so...accidents with paint and fabric? Oh my yes, have we been there.

Here's what works for us:
Get a clean spray bottle. Pick up some Goo Gone, some brush cleaner from Hobby Lobby or some such, and your Oxy Clean and a tooth brush with stiff bristles.

Mix about 1/2 part Brush cleaner with roughly 4 parts hot water. Spay a small amount of Goo Gone on a spot. Work it in with the toothbrush to start breaking up the spot. Then spray your H2O brush cleaner mixture on the spot. Break it up more with the toothbrush. Keep scrubbing away until it's mostly broken up and gone. Rinse the tooth brush really well. Sprinkle on a bit of Oxy Clean on the area and wet the brush. Use this to clean up the remaining mess and oil from the Goo Gone. Blot dry with a paper towel and then run it through the wash.

It's a lot of work but it works for us.

Sooo sorry Sir.

Sounds good! I'll give this a try this weekend and see how it goes! It does sound pretty labor intensive, but it should be worth it!

I've tried to sandpaper some spots, but like you said Deathproof, it did wear the fabric on the suit pretty thin,

Thanks again for the suggestions, was a bit of a gut punch when it happened!

Jesuit24 · Jul 9, 2015

Have you tried oven cleaner? I had a similar problem and while it didn't get rid of the spots completely, it did fade them enough that I could blend the weathering in.

Flight Suit Weathering SNAFU

Lidocaine

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Mullreel

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EEvansHilton

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Mullreel

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DeathProof

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Lidocaine

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