Painting Faux Leather with Dixie Belle Paint

Who says you can’t paint faux leather? A friend of mine bought this adorable vintage dressing stool for $20 at a yard sale. It was brown faux leather and did not match any of her decor. Solid black is what it needed to be.

I am going to take you through the process of how we transformed the brown faux leather vintage dressing stool into this stunning black stool with a smooth finish.

Material List:

• White Lightning Cleaner
• Scrub pad
• Clean water
• Cleaning rag
• Dixie Belle Midnight Sky
• Water in mister spray bottle
• Synthetic Brush (Dixie Belle Mini)
• Sandpaper/sponge
• Easy Peasy Spray Wax

Every beautifully painted piece begins with the same 1st step… Cleaning. Proper cleaning gives the finished product what it needs to help the paint adhere, Thoroughly clean your piece. Get all the dirt, grime, and years of polishing products off. I use Dixie Belle White Lightning to thoroughly clean. Mix White Lightning (2 tsp) in a spray bottle with warm water. Scrub it with the green side of a Scotch Brite pad. Then rinse with clean water and wipe clean with a rag. See all the yuck you didn’t know was there. If the piece is really dirty you may need to repeat the cleaning process.

Once cleaned, it’s time to begin painting. You want to keep your brush wet. With your mister bottle spray your brush to wet the bristles. Dip just the tip end of your brush in the paint. You don’t want to overload. A little goes a long way. Use long strokes to apply the paint. Don’t over work it. You won’t get full coverage with one coat.If your brush starts to feel “dry” spray it again with the mister bottle. Let paint dry for about an hour or two.

Once paint is dry, use the sanding sponge (220 grit or higher sanding paper) to lightly sand the faux leather. Repeat the paint and sanding process until you have the coverage you desire (2-3 coats). Again, makes sure to keep the brush wet and use as little paint as possible. 

Your piece is now painted and you have the coverage desired. It’s time to use Easy Peasy Spray Wax. Spray and let the wax sit for 10-15 seconds, then wipe.

There you have it… Painted Faux Leather.