Thread: Help with MM/paint on pool noodles

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The past two years I have used foam pool noodles and other cylindrical foam materials with smooth surfaces in building props. I usually apply monster mud or latex paint to the surface. It looks great once dried, but after several days of being exposed to rain and cooler temps, the MM/paint starts to crack and peel off. By the end of the Halloween season, much of the MM/paint has come off. This doesn't happen with my flat foam surfaces, only rounded surfaces.

What do I do to keep the MM/latex paint on a smooth rounded foam surface?
Would a topcoat of Drylok keep it from peeling off?

Monster mud base + spray paint topcoat


Monster mud + latex paint + polyurethane topcoat

Have you tried skipping the MM & just using the paint?

The flexing is what's killing you. The pool noodle flexes when moved or in the heat of the sun. That causes tiny cracks for rain to get in and then you are toast. Drylok helps a lot because it has a bit of capillary action and so it seeps into mm'd items and other items enough to hold on and create a waterproof seal. Beloved has survived 3 seasons now and has held up wonderfully.

For the transformers, I painted the pool noodles directly with Drylok first and it seems to be holding up great. But, I'm not flexing it and it's not been out of the elements so I can't testify to that performance. The other problem you are having is that the pool noodle is plastic and water-based paints don't hold on to that very well.

You can sand the noodle with coarse sandpaper. This will remove the coating (the shiny surface) and create a surface on which the paint can better bond to. Terra is correct about the flexing. To fix that you will need a certain type of paint made for that purpose (flexible surfaces).

Thanks for the ideas.

I think you're right--the noodle and other rounded foam materials I've been using have a coating that is preventing the paint from sticking. Flexing the material also is a problem.

I wonder if the air pockets in the foam cause expansion and contraction underneath the painted surface (especially when exposed to the elements), resulting in surface cracks.

I'll try carefully removing the coating with sandpaper and then try Drylok or an oil-based paint on the surface and run some outdoor tests.

Terra, I love your transformers!

I wonder if the styrofoam would take on any sort of dyes?
If you were able to dye the foam on the prop first, to near the color you want to paint it, it would not matter if the paint cracks because you'd no longer see Pink under the cracks. In fact it may give a neat effect to have cracking paint over another sub dye color that is near but not a perfect match.