Thread: Paint to use on foam

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As many of us here know you can't use many of the spray paints on foam as it will just eat it up. I found an H2O paint by Krylon.

Krylon: Products: H₂O™ Latex

which I've used on foam for the past several years. It really works great on my halloween stuff as it gets into the knooks and cranies of all the areas.

I also use the white for a primer and then use regular acrylic paint and brush to finish things off.

Just my two cents.

Yep...there's lots of water-based spray paints and laquers. Just read some labels.

I've looked at the usual places and haven't found any but Krylon. WM doesn't carry the H2O any longer however it is available online. I'd like to know what other brands are out there?

I used Valspar latex interior/exterior enamel on my spider. It's made from 2" pink insulation foam.

I use the Krylon H20 a lot, it is great for a base coat or two, if you hit the foam with a couple of coats of the krylon you can actually use regular spray paint on top of that. The latex give the foam an outer 'shell' of sorts and the spray paint wont eat the foam as the latex makes the outer shell for it. Do at least 2 good coverages of the krylon though before you do this.

This may sound like a dumb question...but are you guys talking about styrofoam? We had wanted to turn out dog cage into a mausoleum using styrofoam sheets. We're running really late with this project so we found some spray paint that looks like stone and had planned to use that. Not a good idea?

Yes, most spray paint will eat away the foam, sometimes that is okay if you're going for a weathered look, but it can also mess up the structure if it eats away too much. I'm not sure about the stone spray paint, look and see if it is a water based spray paint. Krylon H20 Spray is the only kind that I've seen, but there may be others out there, i'm not sure. Test it on a scrap piece of styrofoam first just to be safe.

You can spray on a varathane finish 1st, then paint over it. I've tried this on your basic, run-of-the-mill styrofoam, and it didn't melt at all. made a prefect seal, and dries pretty fast. Cleanup is with water.

Here's what i used:
Varathane - crystal clear waterborne - Diamond Wood Finish (OUTDOOR)

You can buy it at Home Depot, and I would imagine many other hardware/paint stores as well...and it does also come in a can so you can brush/roll it on.

Hope that helps ya out. (which way did ya come in?)

I found the Krylon H20 at KMart today. It just went clearance I bought 6 cans for 6$ not too bad. You may want to check there and see.

Also found it at my local Hobby Lobby I believe it was $3.97. It works great, I am working on a pirate ship made of insulation foam and thus far there has been no melting. ^_^