DIY Experiment: Use Regular Spray Paint on Outdoor Cushions!

Things were looking a little bit faded on my front porch a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t just the inch of pollen covering every surface! My formerly black seat cushions had faded to gray over several years of use.

regular spray paint outdoor pillows cushions

In their defense, they’re not made from outdoor fabric, so it’s no surprise that they faded, even with a liberal coating of Scotchguard.
Here’s the dingy before:

And up close:

Ever since I painted my gray chair {here}, I’ve been wondering about fabric spray paints and how well they work. At first, I was going to buy a can of that and try it out on these pillows, but then I read some reviews that suggested that just maybe they weren’t worth the expense. I then started to wonder how plain old spray paint would work on fabric…there’s not too much out there on that, and as you all know, I often like to try new things just to see if they’ll work. The cushions were destined for the trash can anyway, so what did I have to lose?

I pulled out a can of my favorite spray paint, Rust-Oleum Ultracover 2X in black semi-gloss. I buy it locally, but here’s our Amazon affiliate link so you can see what the can looks like:

Then I gave the cushions two coats each, top, bottom, and sides. Check out the difference:

I let them dry thoroughly and put them back on the chairs. Now they’re black instead of gray:

They are colorfast, so the paint doesn’t transfer when you sit down.

They feel a bit stiffer than they did originally, but they’re not uncomfortable to sit on.

I probably only used half a can of paint for both, so I consider that a tremendous bargain compared to the cost of new cushions. Don’t you?

Sometimes you just never know until you try… I’ll update you in a few months to let you know how they weather our hot summer sun down here in Savannah! (UPDATE: they’re still looking great and it’s January 2018!!)

I’ve since painted an entire set of outdoor cushions for my conversation set using regular latex paint and a paint sprayer. Check out that project {here}.