Painting Black Boots White

[Chunk[501st]]

Hello All,

 

 Just wanna consult the experts here before I attempt my project. I will be painting 16" tall black engineer boots white to turn them into Biker Scout Boots. I know they will not be screen acurate. I will add the "dog bone" to each boot & paint the soles a tan color. But living in 110' summers the glue on my scout boots is starting to come off. Since everyone over in the BSN reccomends Marcell for boots or a tutorial on how to make your own. I'm back to my original problem. Hot temp & glue not mixing. So I wanted to get your help with painting the all black boots white. I purchased Nu-Life White Spray Paint & Nu-Life Color Prep. I know how to use the paint, but I've never used the color prep. Do I just use a towel, rag, or a make up wedge to apply. Do I saturate the boot, or use in lite coats. Will the boot turn white or ashy with application(kinda a drying out) Just wanna get this right as it being a huge project. Will post before & after pics.

 Here's the boots new out the box.

-------------

Edited January 23, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[TrooperTim]

I used NuLife to turn black jodhpur boots white. I painted them without prep. The finish looked good to me. I used them for several troops and didn't have to touch up. Eventually you'll probably need to, maybe with white shoe polish? I think that would work fine.

[Dark Trooper[TK]]

I know they have shoe dye I think you can buy.

[Chunk[501st]]

i already have the shoe paint. Bought 4 large cans of NU-Life White. Just not sure how to use the prep. No directions on the bottle. Was wondering if I should use a little all over the boot & repeate. Or is alot better as to where the boot is saturated with color prep?

[TrooperTim]

http://www.ehow.com/way_5552965_can-spray-paint-leather.html

 

Seems like the color prep is just to clean and get any residues off what you're going to spray so the paint has something to hold onto. Use a little bit at a time and go over the boot. Maybe with a dauber or cotton ball. Vinyl/chemical gloves would be a good idea. Once the color prep stuff has dried then you paint it.

[Chunk[501st]]

Color Prep on, rubbed the whole boots several times. Dries very quickly. I noticed on one of the boots there was a tiny circle of leather comming up. Barley noticable, but I know it's there. So being the perfectionist I am I decided to glue it. I was gonna use superglue. But I figured E6000 would be better since it's flexable. Now I gotta wait for that to dry. Like I said it' so small, probably already dry. But I will have some luch & paint the boots when I get back. I would have taken pics of the boots after the color prep was applied. But there was no real diffrence when I stood in direct sun light. So the next pics will be of 1st coat of white paint.

Stay Tuned.........

[bjsavage7[TK]]

Good luck on the boots. I'm anxious to see how they turn out.  

I know heat can really do a number on biker boots.

Seems like I've done a lot of re-gluing on mine the last couple of years.

[Chunk[501st]]

Here's the boots so far. The first 4 pics are of the boots with one coat of paint. The pic with both boots in frame have about 5 coats on them. I will add a couple more coats as there is about 1/4 can of paint left. I bought 4 cans to start with, didn't want to run out. I also bought 3 jars of Color-Prep & used about 3/4 of 1 jar on the boots. So Im thinking for those of you who want to repilcate my work. 2 cans of Nu-Life White spray paint & 1 jar of Nu-Life Color-Prep should work fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2013 by Chunk

[Chunk[501st]]

Here are the boots with about 10-12 coats. I've looked at them in direct sunlight & outdoors in the shade. Seems the whole boot is the same shade of white & I'm happy with them.  I will let them dry overnight. Tomorrow I will add the dog bone & toe trim.

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2013 by Chunk

[Chunk[501st]]

Ughhhh ran in to a problem, Paint didn't stick. I will spend the day scraping off all the paint. The only place the paint stuck was on the rubber sole. I will write the company & see what they say. The paint did not stick anywhere! The boots looked really good, so I stuck my hand in the shaft to look them over. Thats when I noticed the paint start to crack where ever the boot flexed. So I knew it was a no go. I put them on & walked arond the driveway for few mins. Everywhere the boot flexed the paint came off. I will scrape off all the paint & walk around the house a few times. Maybe the paint will stick better to a worn in boot. I will try one more time. I think this time I will spray 1 lite coat a day. Anyone have any ideas?

 

 

 

 

 

[Chunk[501st]]

All the paint is removed. Wearing them around the house to break them in. Will apply 2-3 coats tomorrow with at least an hour dry time in between.

 

[Chunk[501st]]

I contacted the manufacturer today. They suggested stripping the boot down to bare leather or using a lite coat of paint with a 12hr dry time in between.  I tried stripping the boot best I could. used more of the color prep, then used acetone & even tried gasoline on one of the heels. Let me just say that black is staying on there. So I went with option #2 I sprayed a lite coat on the boot & will let it set for over 12hrs. At this rate Im lucky if I can get 2 coats a day. Been cool in the mornings, so prob will have to settle for 1 coat a day.

[Chunk[501st]]

Well I looked over my boots this am. Flexed here & there & no paint came off. So maybe this lite coats & 12hr dry time will work. Just means it will take 10 days to paint my boots  

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

angelus leather paint.

 

no prep.  just paint and let dry.

[Chunk[501st]]

Gonna apply the 4th coat of paint today. Seems to be comming along. Just very slow process due to drying time. But if I get them looking like I did that 1st day without cracking, then it will be worth it.

[Chunk[501st]]

Well it's a fail. After four days of very lite coats & some progress. I went outside to check on the boots. The paint rubbed off without any effort. My thumb gently touched the boot & the paint started to lift off again. Im going to abandon the Nu-Life spray paint. Now searching for the Angelus Paint Dye.  

[Chunk[501st]]

Contacted the Angelus Shoe Dye Co directly. Spoke with a nice lady & explained my problem. She wasn't too sure, but did say their Angelus White Acrylic Paint is flexable & will not crack or peel. She said she would pass my name & phone # along with my problem to the owner & have her call me back.  They are located here in California les than 2hrs away. Once I speak with the owner I will probably buy 4 bottles of thier brush on paint.  

[Chunk[501st]]

Bought 4 bottles of Angelus Acrylic paint & 2 bottle of the 600 finisher. Sould be here in 2 days. Now off to strip the old paint off.

[Chunk[501st]]

Stripped most of the Nu-Life off. Ran out of acetone. Will make a trip to Lowes for some industrial strength acetone. I'll take off the remaining paint & start with the Angelus as soon as it gets here.

 

 

[Chunk[501st]]

Angelus Paint came in today. Applied 1 lite coat. Will apply a 2nd coat tonight & couple more tomrrow.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2013 by Chunk

[Chunk[501st]]

Here are the boots with 5 coats of Angelus. I think one more coat will do it & then I will add the top coat sealer.

 

 

[Chunk[501st]]

6th & final coat applied. Will apply the top coat sealer later this afternoon. Off to the fabric store to pick up some white leather for the dog bone.

 

 

[Echo[TK]]

Those look really great. Congrats given the ordeal you have had.

[Chunk[501st]]

1st coat on the sole.

 

 

[Chunk[501st]]

Test fitting the dog bone & toe strip. Will give these guys an acetone bath later & comence to painting.