Can a tank bag be painted?

[Guest]

I just picked up a small tank bag. It used to be red and black, but the red is very faded. Can I paint the entire thing to make it all black? If so, what kind of paint should I use?
Thanks.

[daturat100r]

there are special dyes for recolouring vinyl,A local auto trimmer should be able to help you out

[Flyboy]

+1 on the vinyl dye, but to answer your question, yes, you can paint it, but you need to have a chat to your paint shop and explain what you want to do, and get them to mix you up some with a good amount of plastisier in it, to avoid it cracking.
We used to refurb Rolls Royce leather seats like that. with no problems afterwards.

[bwringer]

The tank bag is nylon fabric, not vinyl.

I suspect Rit fabric dye would do the trick, and it's cheap -- only $3 or $4 a package.

Rit says their dye will work on nylon.

http://www.ritdye.com/frequently-asked-questions

[koolaid_kid]

Good point. I thought it was either nylon or polyester (IDK the difference).
When I said paint, I meant "change the colour to black all around".

[JEEPRUSTY]

Duplicoulour makes a decent dye\paint. It is hellishly noxious though. It seems to work by melting into the fabric. Sort of like model glue welds things.

It would be cumbersome to spary but if you took the time you could do it.

[madjack57754]

Automotive paint suppliers sell carpet and fabric dye by the quart . My local NAPA has 12 colors on the shelf.

[koolaid_kid]

It is a Joe Rocket Manta, constructed of "ROCK TEX 680", what ever that means. I guess I will try the RIT dye and see how that goes. If it is polyester, however, sounds like I will need to choose a different route.

[Nunzio]

RIT Dye will work, I used to dye nylon parts for my old RC cars back in the day.

[Zafe]

Duplicoulour makes a decent dye\paint. It is hellishly noxious though. It seems to work by melting into the fabric. Sort of like model glue welds things.

It would be cumbersome to spary but if you took the time you could do it.

x2 on dupli products,

[koolaid_kid]

Final resolution, and Thanks!

First, thanks to all suggestions.
Second, I stopped at WallyWorld and CVS, no RIT.
Third, I decided that if I RIT it I should clean it first. So I tossed it in the washer, along with some appropriate stuff, and 3 tubs of OxyClean and my usual detergent. When the washer stopped I pulled it out and "WOW" it looks like new. No fading, the red looks the same across the board. It will never match the deep red of either bike, but at least now it looks nice. I think I'm done.

[bwringer]

OK, now you have GOT to post a pic.

That thing looked pretty nasty before...