How to Paint on Rayon

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Things You'll Need

  • Rayon garments

  • Transfer paper

  • Fabric pencil

  • Brushes

  • Foam brushes

  • Neopaque textile paints

  • Kosher salt

Painting on rayon can give you a smoother paint finish.

Fine artists sometimes use rayon to paint on, as its tight weave offers a smooth finish to a fabric painting. However, painting on rayon takes practice and care. It is an inexpensive synthetic fabric, and standard fabric paints tend to bleed more on this fabric than they do on other types of fabric. The painting process also takes awhile to finish because of the each layer must dry before an artist can continue painting another.

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Step 1

Wash the rayon fabric or garment first to make sure it is clean before painting and that there is no further shrinking. Hang the fabric or garment on a coat hanger and allow it to dry.

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Step 2

Draw the outline or design with a fabric pencil or by using transfer paper to trace the design onto the fabric.

Step 3

Squeeze a dollop of highly opaque textile paint onto your paint dish. Neopaque and Pebeo seta color are prime examples of opaque fabric paints. Neopaque is a fabric paint made especially for painting fabrics like rayon. Mix the colors that you need. This type of textile paint bleeds less than other types of paint.

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Step 4

Place the garment or fabric on a covered, flat surface. Take a spray bottle and spray water across the fabric before starting to paint.

Step 5

Insert a piece of cardboard underneath the fabric layer you are painting. This will keep the paint from bleeding through to the other side of the fabric and staining other parts of the fabric you do not want to get paint on.

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Step 6

Dip your brush or foam brush into the pain and paint your traced outline. Sprinkle kosher salt on each color as you finish painting and allow it to thoroughly dry. This should take a few hours. The salt will make the paint dry faster. Finish painting the fabric the way you want.

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