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[fechan]

I don't think there is a thread specific on painting pleather shoes and there is contradictory information on if it's possible or how to do it on the many threads touching the subject so I though I'd share my experience with it:

What paint I used
After doing a lot of research I found that the paint most people agreed on was Liquitex Acrylic Soft Body. However, my local art supplies store only carried Heavy Body. The difference between the two is that Heavy is thicker and applies more in a sculpted way. To thin Heavy Body into Soft Body I mixed it with Liquitex Fluid Medium Matte. (You can use the non-matte version depending on the look you're going for).
http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713941/

Paint/Fluid Medium ratio
I think after all this was a better solution than using Soft Body as I could control the thickness of the paint and used various thickness depending on where I applied it.
At first, I used about 60% paint/40% medium but since I was painting black pleather into bright gold I thickened it after the first few layers to about 70%~80% paint. It covered well but you could see the paint strokes sometimes so I finished it off with a thinned out layer of paint.

Painting Technique
I used masking tape to protect the part of the shoes I did not want painted.
Applying the paint can be really tricky since it can be pretty thick so you have to smooth it with the brush in every direction for a long time. The paint also dries pretty fast, which is a blessing as you will need to apply MANY layers of paint. I think I must have painted at least 10 layers.
The first few layers with thinner paint: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713936/
After a full afternoon of painting/letting dry/painting/etc. : http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713937/

Con + painted shoes
I spend the whole con in the shoes, I crouched, jogged, walked on pavement, on gravel, grass, etc. and I was really impressed by how well they the paint held. By the end of the con it had only peeled off a little in one spot and had cracked in the creases a bit but you can't really tell unless you're looking at them up close. I could have covered them every evening with the paint and they would've been dry for the next morning but I was lazy. :P

Both shoes: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713938/
Cracked paint in the creases: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713939/
Small part that peeled off: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713940/

I'm currently in the process of fixing the damage: http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2713954/
First picture: 1 layer of paint
Second: 2~3 layers
Third: ~5 layers.

[ilikecookies]

Thankya so much!!!! i was just wondering how to do this :3 by the way your shoes look awesome

[euterpe42]

I'm trying to dye/paint some super-old white pleather boots of mine black for my Kanda cosplay. Do you think that black shoe polish will work, or should I go with the paint?

[fechan]

Originally Posted by euterpe42

I'm trying to dye/paint some super-old white pleather boots of mine black for my Kanda cosplay. Do you think that black shoe polish will work, or should I go with the paint?

If it's shoe polish for synthetic leather and not for leather I think it would work. If it's just regular leather shoe polish I don't think it will adhere to the surface as pleather is not porous like leather is. Leather sort of drinks in the polish while it would probably just rub off pleather.
I hope that makes sense.

[Satine]

Sadly yes, synthetic leather usually involved a thin plastic layer

Acrylics are great for colouring fake leather and rattle can acrylic enamel works really well too Not regular enamel as it has no flex and will chemically react to PVC- sticky

I'm very glad you mentioned flow medium This will work as an acrylic base so you can use powder pigments such as ground up eyeshadow or purpose ground pigments for paint to also colour over anything that the medium will stick to.

[fechan]

Originally Posted by Satine

I'm very glad you mentioned flow medium This will work as an acrylic base so you can use powder pigments such as ground up eyeshadow or purpose ground pigments for paint to also colour over anything that the medium will stick to.

As long as what you mix with the fluid can bend some as it dries. What makes the Acrylic work is that it's really flexible as it dries, even when it's thickly applied, so it moves with the shoes as the shoe pleather flexes.
Powdered pigment would probably be flexible enough since it's, well powder and I think the fluid has some flexibility.

[Ani_BEE]

Another product that a handful of cosplayer had good luck with was.

COLORTOOL Spray you can get from Michaels and I've seen boots redone with this product just fine.
http://www.dmcolor.com/products/

I will be recolour a PVC fabric flower pot soon with this product and let everyone know how it turned out on the fabric.

[cupcakegirl174]

i tried using car seat interior spray (for pleather seats and such) i bought at an automotive store.

Results: it cracked and chipped like crazy, i can't imagine anyone putting this on their car seats.........

[drakeprimeone]

I hope its ok to add another related question to this thread. I have some military boots very similar to the one pictured that I will be making a more traditional brown. I have 3 options before me and am unsure which to go with
1. Multi Surface Spray paint (least expensive)
2. Brown Shoe Polish
3. Brown Apholstery Fabric Spray Paint

thanks for any help!

[fechan]

If they are actual military boots those are made of real leather so I would suggest brown leather polish or brown leather shoe paint.
The picture looks like suede or fake suede so I don't think any kind of paint take well to that honestly. I know shoe polish will ruin suede from experience.

[drakeprimeone]

Originally Posted by fechan

If they are actual military boots those are made of real leather so I would suggest brown leather polish or brown leather shoe paint.
The picture looks like suede or fake suede so I don't think any kind of paint take well to that honestly. I know shoe polish will ruin suede from experience.

[euterpe42]

Thank you all so much--I have just been saved from a ghastly shoe polish mistake! I'm heading over to the local craft store for buttons soon so I'll examine their acrylics and the other products recomended.

[Miss Mess]

Let's say I just put primer spray paint on 1/3 of my boots... Do you know how I might go by removing that so that I can use this method??

Any help would be amazing.

***edit:
Nevermind. Found out that goo gone does the trick!

[Shackoonz]

thanks for the elp!

[cutekawaii]

Angelus leather paints are superior for this type of project. They are very flexible and will not crack.
http://turtlefeathers.net/text/angelus/paint.html

And a gallery of painted shoes:
http://turtlefeathers.net/gallery-text/angelus.html