Painting a rug

[fryjack2]

Does anyone have any tips?  I can't find a yellow chevron rug, so I'm attempting to make my own.

Has anyone painted a rug and not had it feel really hard under their feet? 

[ktzmoh]

I did! It turned out great! It's not 'soft' - but it didn't start out a plush rug to begin with.

I diluted the paint with water so that it absorbed into the rug rather than laying on the top - and I used one of those woven cloth rugs - I don't think a plush rug would work very well.

I did the rubber doormat = giant rubber stamp thing. It was messy, but super easy - and super cheap project. I got the rug at Ikea - $40 or so. And the paint was on hand.

to do chevron, i feel like you'd just need painters tape and you could roll the paint directly on the rug

[jenstar]

If you google painting a rug, there are a bunch of blogs with tutorials that should be able to help. I have been thinking about doing this myself but I'm probably too lazy.

From what I've read, I think the key is to use a flatwoven rug and make sure you mix a textile medium into your paint - I think that is what keeps it soft underfoot.

Good luck!

[jenstar]

Or you could get one like this! But that wouldn't be as fun

[fryjack2]

Feb 24, 2013 5:13:57 GMT -5 jenstar said:

Or you could get one like this! But that wouldn't be as fun

I would love to just buy one, but I want a true yellow and white rug.  Not a gold one

I've googled, but can't find a site that tells me how to make the paint softer.  Most sites have painted outdoor rugs or kitchen rugs.  Or they use textile spray paint with not good results.  I'll have to ask at another art store for more guidance, the one I went to last week wasn't helpful. 

google did help me figure out how to draw the chevron in a MUCH easier way than I had originally planned too.  I'm excited about that!

[TBM]

Look at dharmatrading.com for paints/inks/dyes. You could use screen printing ink. It can be brushed on, and they have an extender that you can get to thin it to the right consistency.

[kristilynnmy]

www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=20659470&parentid=A_FURN_RUGS&color=072

[tottenham]

I haven't painted a rug, but House Tweaking did one a while back. She mentioned that using a no- or low-VOC paint can help with stiffness, but it still feels slightly different to the touch.

Here's the link:
www.housetweaking.com/2012/10/17/diy-painted-rug/

[littlemisssunshine]

I painted a cut pile rug and it turned out terribly. I did a lot of research and mixed half acrylic paint and half textile medium. I used my hands to rub it into the fibers; I was doing a large solid patch (4x6). It dried really crunchy. The textile medium helped a lot but it still had an uncomfortable texture to stand/walk on. We ended up replace the rug which wasn't a big deal because it was free to begin with. At the beginning of the project I tried regular acrylic, fabric paint, 1/2 acrylic 1/2 textile medium, and fabric spray paint. The 1/2 and 1/2 mixture was definitely the best, but I still wouldn't suggest it. The other problem was the paint didn't get all the way down through the all the fibers, so if you rubbed the rug you could still see the original color at the bottom. I'm assuming that painting a flat woven rug might work, but on a plush cut pile rug it didn't work out as well.

[fryjack2]

Feb 24, 2013 12:22:10 GMT -5 kristilynnmy said:

www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=20659470&parentid=A_FURN_RUGS&color=072

The chevron isnt big enough and neither is the rug   I've looked everywhere and can't find exactly what I want, so I'm going to attempt to make it on my own. 
I'll try to post a pic when I'm done.  I just laid out all the tape tonight. 

[fryjack2]

Feb 24, 2013 10:29:14 GMT -5 TBM said:

Look at dharmatrading.com for paints/inks/dyes. You could use screen printing ink. It can be brushed on, and they have an extender that you can get to thin it to the right consistency.

THANK YOU!  This site seems to have exactly what I need