How do I paint a lampshade?

Paints will make it opaque. Are you ok with that?

Have you tried to rinse it off in the bathtub? I would try that and use a little clear soap on it and cold water.

It will need to be towel dried quickly with someone holding another towel on the backside to prevent too much pressure.

Then if it’s still there, you’ll know you can try dying it. I would use a Rit Dye made for synthetics. It will not due as dark as the bottle says it will, because you’ll be using it Cold, not hot.

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I would suggest dying it. You will have better luck than with paint.

Will the light still shine through?

I would try quickly washing it and if that doesn’t work then painting.

Never painted one but striped it down to wires. Picked out pattern to go w lamp. Cut it in strips and hot glued material to wire frames. Was very unique and got lots of complements.

Yes, I wouldn't ever use paint, as long as you have a good frame ,you can remove old fabric, and using a glue gun ,and or sewing machine , make your own lampshade. It's lots of fun, shades are to hard to clean, I never painted one, but have made several. Good luck!!!

I used fabric paint on my lampshade it works

If it is just a small area of the shade that is water stained, and not the entire shade, then applying trim may be another option.

I would try cleaning the entire shade with water in the bath tub first. Use a mild dishwasher detergent and then rinse. I tried painting a shade and it streaked like crazy looked terrible with the light on. You can try a light color dye, again do it in the bath tub. or you can refinish the shades edge and just cover the spot.

The problem with paint is after it’s dry and you turn on the light you can see brush marks and and uneven appearance. Maybe spray painting would work. I haven’t tried that. Covering it would be tricky because of the odd shape and panels.