I have what I believe to be like a solid plastic/vinyl shutters on my house. I was told they are fade resistant, but

Terri J
by Terri J
like everything else that has the sun on it until late afternoon, they have faded. I wanted to know how to repaint them, and hopefully not have to redo it every few years. The funny thing is that my front metal door was the same oringinal color, and it has never faded! Is that due to the difference in materials?
  4 answers
  • Hi Terri - all plastic/vinyls fade with exposure to UV rays. You can clean them down with a product call Plastic Renew which will usually restore the original color. There are some car care product you can also use but the name escapes me and you'll need some elbow grease. I have an earlier post on painting plastic shutters. You need to clean them, prime them with Sherwin Williams adhesion primer tinted to match the color of your top coat as much as possible...and then top coat with one or two coats of SW Super Paint or similar quality product. We've heard lots of complaints from clients over the years with vinyl shutters that started peeling. Usually it was because whoever painted them the first time didn't prep properly. I just started using the Adhesion Primer but liked how it painted out, cured quickly and help top coat. I expect it will hold up very well!
  • Paul M Paul M on Mar 07, 2012
    Terri you can paint them but a better fix is vinyl dye, obtainable at any auto parts store. It gets into the plastic and won't chip, flake, or peel like paint can. They only need to be moderately clean and the dye will work just fine. You won't solve your fading issue with anything I am aware of but you can easily freshen them up every few years with the dye. Good luck.
  • Ann Ann on Jul 14, 2015
    We just painted our entire house. It's all vinyl. Sherwin Williams makes a specific paint for this. Just about every color. Ours has a 20 yr warranty against fading.
  • Judi Judi on Apr 05, 2016
    Krylon makes a paint specially for plastic. Most stores that carry paint have it in many colors.