How To Paint Fabric With Chalk Paint
Check out how to paint fabric with chalk paint with this step by step tutorial and this MCM fabric chair. It makes it feel like leather!
Get more chalk painting tips and secrets that you need to know here!
I was in need of a new chair for my living room.
I found this great mid-century modern chair on Facebook Marketplace for $30. It was in like-new condition and I couldn’t pass it up. So I quickly messaged the seller and purchased this one.
If you want to know the best places to get good furniture for cheap, check out my post to find out.
Once I got it into my space I felt it gave off that “waiting room” feeling. I still loved the chair, but I wasn’t crazy about the color.
Reupholstery is a costly service and I didn’t feel confident enough to take on that task.
I was familiar with the process of painting fabric with chalk paint, but I had never tried it. So I figured why not paint it!? Worst case scenario is that I mess it up and I’m out -$30.
Supplies Used to Paint Fabric with Chalk Paint
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- Fine Mist Spray Bottle
- 220 Grit Sanding Block
- Paint Brush
- Dixie Belle’s Chalk Mineral Paint (Color: Drop Cloth)
- Dixie Belle’s Easy Peasy Spray Wax
- Rag
- Bissell Upholstery Cleaner
Here are the steps I took to go from a boring gray fabric to a clean classic look…
Check out the best white chalk paint for furniture here.
Clean Fabric on Chair
As you can see in the picture, my fabric was pretty new and clean, but if this is not the case for you, I recommend vacuuming the fabric and spot clean.
This is an awesome upholstery cleaner/vacuum that is really good at cleaning upholstery.
How to Paint Fabric with Chalk Paint
After your fabric has been cleaned, mist the surface with a fine mist water bottle. You do not want your surface soaked, but you also don’t want to directly paint on the dry fabric.
We are trying to recreate the process of dying the fabric, so you want your paint layers thin. Thick layers of paint will lead to a hard fabric that will be prone to cracking.
You will want to dilute your chalk paint slightly and keep your fine mist water bottle nearby.
Once your fabric has been misted, you will want to begin applying your diluted paint. Do one coat and allow it to fully dry.
Now this is the moment you might freak out a bit and think “Oh my gosh it’s ruined!” WARNING it will feel scratchy and that’s okay, just move on to the next step.
When you sand between each coat you are knocking down all those scratchy pieces, so by the end you should have a smooth surface. I use a 220 grit sanding sponge for this step.
Now you will repeat Step 2 (mist surface, paint, dry & sand). On this particular chair, it took 4 coats of paint.
When you are trying to cover a darker color with a lighter color, it will take more coats than it would when covering a light color with a dark color.
Just be patient. The finished product is worth all the thin layers of paint.
How to Seal Chalk Paint on Fabric
After you have all of your coats of paint applied and you are happy with the saturation of the color, you can seal your piece. Be sure you have thoroughly sanded prior to applying the wax.
I use Dixie Belle’s Easy Peasy Spray Wax for my painted fabric. It is the perfect product for fabric because it applies in thin layers. And it is in liquid form, unlike your typical furniture waxes.
When I seal my fabric I spray the Easy Peasy Spray Wax onto the surface and buff it into the surface with a rag until I can’t feel that waxy residue anymore.
It doesn’t take much buffing and you can apply a second coat if you feel the first layer didn’t apply evenly.
I kept this chair for my own home and it gets a lot of use. The finished texture feels a lot like leather. It is smooth to touch and slick; not rough at all.
Check out another painted fabric chair makeover here.
More Before And After Makeovers
Click any of these “before” photos below to view the “after” of that makeover.
My kids were skeptical of the idea of painting our chair and felt the fabric in the middle of the process.
My 5-year-old was extremely upset with how scratchy it was, but once I fully completed the chair she was thrilled with how nice it felt and looked.
It now feels like it should belong in our home, rather than in a doctor’s office.
Here are more mid century modern painted furniture to get inspiration from.
How to Paint Fabric with Chalk Paint
We painted this MCM fabric chair to give it a new look. Here's how to paint fabric with chalk paint!
Materials
Instructions
- Clean the fabric on the chair by vacuuming and using upholstery cleaner.
- After your fabric has been cleaned, mist the surface with a fine mist water bottle. Dilute your chalk paint slightly as well.
- Once your fabric has been misted, begin applying your diluted paint. Do one coat and allow it to fully dry.
- Sand between each coat of painted fabric, mist, paint, sand and repeat. It can take up to 4 coats of thin layers of paint.
- Seal the fabric with wax. Be sure you have thoroughly sanded prior to applying the wax. Buff wax into the surface with a rag until you can’t feel that waxy residue.
- Enjoy your transformed piece!
Recommended Products
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More Chalk Paint Resources
- Chalk Paint Brushes
- Chalk Paint Problems
- Waverly Chalk Paint
- Chalk Painted Furniture
- Painting a Wood Bench
This makeover was created by Eryn Garcia with Breath of Life Design. Eryn has a passion for breathing life into furniture and interior spaces. She was born and raised in Texas and graduated from Texas A&M in 2016 with a degree from the College of Architecture. She lives with her husband and three kids, ages 5, 3, and 1. She is a stay-at-home mom that decided she needed a creative outlet and began refinishing furniture. Follow along to see more of her work and some behind the scenes into her life…
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I have a question: I painted a client’s 2 recliners – they were built with a lot of difficult places to paint. the client picked up Rustoleum chalk paint, because they had the color she liked. The first coat was properly painted but when I lightly sanded and wiped, some paint came off. I waited quite a long time between coats. The second coat did the same thing – once dried, sanded and wiped with soft white cloth and did the same when i added Easy Peasy Wax. I called rustoleum and their chalk paint is not to be used on fabric. Yikes. So I sanded the best I could, then applied Dixie Bell – mist, paint, sand, (2 coats) and then Easy Peasy – waited good length of time for each coat to dry – it still came off on white cloth after being painted 4 weeks. I share this with you so that you know not to use rustoleum.