Adding colour to sails

[JeremyFowler]

My sails have discoloured here and there, blackish mildew spots and presumably rust spots. My "colour scheme" is such that it would be good if the WHOLE sail was stained - I don't mind it if it is blotchy. Very few natural surfaces are uniform in colour - anyway, I think uniform colour is rather tiring to the eye. Obviously I'd like to achieve this effect without compromising or damaging the (presumably) polyester sailcloth. Is there any discussion thread about this? Some form of paint would also be considered...
Cheers!

[Franziska]

You could talk to this company to see if it might work:

https://www.ritdye.com/instruc...-dy...thetic-fibers/

I'm a bit sceptical though if you get an even black when the sail is multicolored.

Apparently it's essential to wash out any excess dye after the dying process. Otherwise you end up with color everywhere.

Last not least, I hope this does not weaken the fabric. The dye needs to be almost "boiled in at 93degree centigrade" after all.

Make some trials first.

[Benz]

Marlow and Yale both sell water-based PLU paints for rope. If your sails are dacron, and the original shine has worn off, the rope dye might stick. I keep meaning to try it, since I have some white sails I want red for photography reasons.

Another boat had North build bew white sails and paint them red. It was some really thick, gloopy stuff, that bled a little at first, and wore off at crease points pretty fast, but boy did it look good in drone shots! IDK what North used, but they might be open to being asked.

[Gard]

Do some searches on custom sail graphics - there are many different approaches you can take. It's how I ended up in this thread (I'm at he beginning of trying to find out longevity and costs of different ways of applying custom graphics to a working sail like a genacker and a main sail).

Or, get lots of sharpies and gather a ton of children...

[AKA-None]

Or go the route that sailorchic used and paint it?

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Or go the route that sailorchic used and paint it?

The question seems to be what is the best suited paint, that does not flake off, stays on the sail, does not bleed and does not harm the sail cloth.

Might be different horses for different courses though.
On a Spi for example you would want something light...

[JeremyFowler]

Thanks for the input. Sorry for slow reply - have been out of good internet range for the past week...
I'm probably looking at something less ambitious than the advisors are envisaging. I'm happy with mere staining, I think. It seems that the sails pick up stain marks pretty easily, so maybe I should go with some rusty water, or something? Ox blood from the abattoirs?
Who has found something that stained easily?

[AKA-None]

Well I’ve noticed that red wine stains all kinds of materials
Not certain if that would work but something to consider