Paint for Royalex canoe. What type?

[yaricoy]

I have a light blue Royalex canoe rehab project that I want to paint a different color. Any recommendations on the best type of paint to use?

 

[dogbrain]

I have used plain old rustoleum for repairs on royalex canoes, but haven't painted an entire canoe. I think if you gave the whole thing a light sanding, then used a foam roller you'd get pretty good results.

Mark

 

[Robin]

I have read where Krylon spray cans adhere well but don't give a great looking result. I have never painted a royalex canoe myself.

 

[duNord]

I spent big bucks on Interlux Brightsand Polyurethane Marine Paint to paint a royalex hull. It was a complete waste of money. I followed the recommendations regarding lightly sanding the hull and it still quickly flaked off. I've had better results with spray on Rustoleum or Krylon.

 

[dougd]

For several canoes I just used an exterior paint knowing that these boats were going to get scratched up again on my rocky rivers. I thought about the interlux paints but heck once a scratch is done it's done. I did spray cans on one boat but never again. Always use a roller and the a foam brush to tip it all out. I use my boats so looks are good for a first glance but a close exam will show all the scars, kinda like me. Depends what you want to spend to make it look good.

 

[yaricoy]

Thanks for the comments. I’m going for inexpensive and basic since it will be a loaner canoe for friends that join me on trips but don’t have their own boat. I think I’ll try the Rustoleum or Krylon and see how it comes out. It can’t get worse than it is. Worst case it gets a messy camo paint job and doubles for duck hunting.

 

[Robin]

Krylon will do well for a camo job.

 

[Guest]

For several canoes I just used an exterior paint knowing that these boats were going to get scratched up again on my rocky rivers. I thought about the interlux paints but heck once a scratch is done it's done. I did spray cans on one boat but never again. Always use a roller and the a foam brush to tip it all out. I use my boats so looks are good for a first glance but a close exam will show all the scars, kinda like me. Depends what you want to spend to make it look good.

I’ve painted a few canoes, some Royalex, some composite.

For some stupid reason, maybe because I’m cheap and had a can in the shop, I used spray paint. On the first couple, I’m a slow learner. One can was not nearly enough; on a 16 foot canoe I ended up using more like three cans of spray paint.

Spray painting a canoe is not something you want to do inside the shop, the cloud of aerosolized spray will drift on to every surface, and if you are wearing Crocs your feet will sport polka dots.

Working outside with spray paint in any breeze is a nightmare; if you hold the can the recommended 10 to 16 inches away half of the paint blows away before it reaches the hull, and if you compensate by holding the can closer you’ll end up with drips and sags.

I tried Krylon on some plastic patio furniture and was not impressed. I cheaped out on one ancient RX canoe and bought three cans of no-name paint from the Dollar Store. The coverage sucked compared to Rust-oleum spray and the color wasn’t even close to what was shown on the cap. The hull once scrubbed was bright yellow and the cap on the Dollar Store can was a near matching bright yellow. The paint that came out was dull flat pastel yellow and the canoe looked like a giant Easter egg. It was so fugly I added contrasting trim stripes.

Just say no to spray paint. Even at $3.50 a can I didn’t save much over a quart of enamel.

Unless you want to spring for a $40 quart of EZ-Poxy topside paint (which is good stuff) a quart of Rust-oleum can be had for $12-$15 and should be enough to paint a hull at least twice, probably three times.

Unless you want to change the hull color I’d try to find (or have mixed/tinted) a color close to the now likely UV faded light blue, so that when rocks inevitably scrape the paint off the scar will not be as vivid.

Wash/scour the hull to remove any dirt or contaminates. On really filthy grime encrusted hull’s I have used Doug’s magic mix of 50% vinegar/50% Dawn (no water) and a thorough scrub. Don’t even bother rinsing it thoroughly after the first scrub, you’ll find spots you missed, especially along the hard excise edge just below the gunwales.

P9221236 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

(That vinegar/Dawn mix is amazing)

Scrubbed, thoroughly rinsed and dried bring it inside (if you have room) and tape the gunwales.
Caution – if you turn the canoe over after washing/rinsing considerably dirty water will drip down from behind vinyl or aluminum gunwales.

Use a short foam “cigar” roller and narrow pan to lay the paint on, and a 2 or 3 inch foam brush to tip it out. I find it easier to roll and tip half of the hull at a time, keel line down to the gunwale on one side, tip out that half, walk around the canoe roll and tip repeat on the other side.

PA261301 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

My tip out procedure after rolling the paint is to take the foam brush and work my way down from the keel line, lightly running the brush in a straight line all the way from one stem to the other. Probably makes no difference, but I go back to the end where I started and tip out the next 2 or 3 inch wide end-to-end stretch. It helps to have decent light and no glare, so you can see where to overlap the last tip out line.

I don’t know if this happens for anyone else, but at the prefect tip out pressure the foam brush makes a peculiar faint sqweee sound. Same sound when tipping out varnish or urethane.

While you have rollers, pan and brushes and 2/3 of a quart of custom light blue paint leftover you might as well let the first coat cure, take the canoe outside by the hose and rinse bucket, wet sand it lightly with 220 (just enough to scuff the gloss), let it dry and put on a second coat. And again for a third coat if you have the paint and patience left.

 

[LanceR]

You might find something at Oak Orchard Canoe. They have a variety of repair kits and paints for different hull materials. I haven't used any of them but did a lot of business with Oak Orchard when we lived in Upstate NY and they are good folks....

https://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/repair.php

Best regards to all,


Lance

 

[ppine]

Painting canoes seems to give people pause. I have painted plenty of fiberglass, kevlar and wood and canvas canoes over the years. With good surface prep, many kinds of paint will work. I like the Rustoleum marine paint. A spray can will work. Epoxy paint is fine but costs a lot. I have used latex house paint with good success. The problem with Royalex is going to be adhesion. You must resign yourself to the fact that it will easily scrape off. Just paint more often. Porch paint is good.

I usually touch up the paint before a long trip. In Nevada we tend to do a few longer overnight trips.

 

[yaricoy]

Thanks again for all the suggestions and advice. I haven’t painted the boat yet , but I’ll post results once it’s finished.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

If you are concerned about the paint flaking, you may want to consider an adhesion promoting primer. I restore cars as a hobby and have had great success with it when painting non metal parts. If you sand anything make sure you go up to 320 grit or you may see the sanding scratches. As stated above, the cleaning prep is always a good idea. Good luck!

Bob

 

[Guest]

I tried the Rustoleum Topside mentioned above, white on a couple white bottoms. The results were, meh, adequate at best.

The Rustoleum Topside did not cover nearly as well as EZ-Poxy, and absolutely needed three coats, even going white on white. It is 1/3 the cost of EZ-Poxy, so there’s that, but other than price I found nothing to recommend it.

A friend recently used Rustoleum Topside to paint a hull and was very dissatisfied with the result, enough so that he may do some sanding and paint it again with something else.

Porch & deck paint goes on thick, and heavy.

The choice may come down to cost, and availability. Despite ubiquitous availability I will never spray paint a boat again. Quart cans of plain Rustoleum enamel are available in any hardware store. Topside paints not so much, and will need to be ordered.

If it is a canoe I care about, for the effort involved in sanding and taping and rolling and tipping and recoating, I’ll spring for EZ-Poxy.