How Flexible Is Acrylic Paint?

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With the popularity of cosplay sky rocketing right now and more and more people turning to acrylic paint to make their costumes, we have noticed a huge spike in the number of people reaching out to ask questions like how flexible is acrylic paint? Due to the various materials and surfaces that most cosplay enthusiasts use in their costumes, we definitely understand why there is a need for a flexible acrylic paint and with there being so few suitable products on the market, we can also see why there are more and more people reaching out for guidance.

This is why we have decided to publish this article going over the various ins and outs for acrylic paint and its flexibility. Our hope is that we will be able to help our readers better understand what acrylic paints they should be using for their costumes as there are only a small number of suitable acrylic paints that are actually flexible on the market with FX Flexible Acrylic Paint usually being considered the best option for most use cases.

Not only is FX flexible acrylic paint suitable for use on a wide range of materials and surfaces but as the name suggests, it is also very flexible making it the ideal option for cosplay enthusiasts. In addition to this, it is available in a huge range of colors while also being relatively budget friendly considering how well it can perform. Throughout our article below, we will be going over our thoughts on how you are able to get the most out of flexible acrylic paint for your arts and crafts and cosplay sessions to ensure that you are able to get the very best results possible.

How Flexible Is Acrylic Paint?

Regular acrylic paint does offer a small amount of flexibility once dry but it is usually not enough for the majority of people who require a specifically flexible acrylic paint for a surface that will be changing shape on a regular basis. This is why a number of specialist acrylic paint formulas have been developed over the last five years or so with specialist binding agents that ensure that the paint formula is as flexible as possible once dry.

Although some of these specialist, flexible acrylic paint formulas do tend to perform better than others, they all tend to offer more flexibility than a regular acrylic paint formula. If you are planning to use the acrylic paint on fabric clothing or some a cosplay costume then you should always be going with one of the speciallist, flexible acrylic paint formulas than a regular acrylic paint formula.

Over the years, a number of home made additives have been touted as being able to increase the flexibility of regular acrylic paint if you add it to your paint prior to applying it to your surface. For the most part, this tends to be a total waste of time and will degrade the performance of the acrylic paint without increasing its flexibility in anyway making the specialist paint formulas a much better option for the vast majority of people.

What Kind Of Acrylic Paint Is Flexible?

Over the last five years a number of specialist acrylic paint formulas have been developed that offer considerable flexibility when compared to a traditional acrylic paint due to the unique binding agents used in the paint. FX Flexible Acrylic Paint tends to be the best option for the majority of people due to it being very flexible, offering great performance, and being budget friendly considering the performance that it offers.

In addition to this, the FX flexible acrylic paint formula is very beginner friendly making it extremely easy for someone brand new to arts and crafts or cosplay to use and get great results with minimal experience being required. With paint is available in a huge range of colors too with the current colors also offering excellent customisation when mixed with each other to make additional colors almost guaranteeing that the range has everything that you require.

Unlike some of the other flexible acrylic paints on the market these days, FX flexible acrylic paint also works well with brushes of all shapes and sizes. Although this may sound very basic, some of the binding agents used in the other acrylic paint formulas can clump on thinner brushes making it difficult to get high levels of detail with your paint. This is not the case for the FX flexible acrylic paint formula and you are able to get great performance on some very thin brushes without any clumping at all offering you great control over the detail you can achieve.

What Do You Use Flexible Acrylic Paint For?

Flexible acrylic paint has a wide range of use cases with the two main uses being for cosplay outfits and for customising clothing. That said though, there is an increasing demand for flexible acrylic paint for arts and crafts and home decor too spuring the surge of flexible acrylic paint formulas on the market as more and more people look to purchase them.

Although the majority of people will be fine with a traditional acrylic paint for normal arts and crafts or home decor, there are a few niche cases where the additional flexibility of these new.paint formulas will take over and be a better option. The best way to decide if you should use a regular or flexible paint formula is to think if the surface that you are painting is going to be bending much or not.

A common mistake we see people make at this stage is to presume that they should spend more money to use a flexible acrylic paint for a surface that can bend but may not necessarily be bent when used. For example, think of some foam shoulder armor plates for cosplay, sometimes they may have to bend to fit the movements of your body but other times, they will be rigid and not bent or flex in anyway. Taking a few minutes to factor this in to your decision making really can save you a surprising amount of money in the long run.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Leather?

You can use FX flexible acrylic paint on leather but we would highly recommend that you us the FX Primer prior to applying the actual acrylic paint. This is due to leather being a pain for some acrylic paints to bond to and the primer often bonds to leather without issue and allows you to apply your acrylic paint on top of it. We would highly recommend that you stick to the FX primer rather than a regular paint primer as it tends to offer just as much flexibility as the paint ensuring that the primer will be able to flex when needed too.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Foam?

You can use FX flexible acrylic paint on foam and it will not dissolve the foam as some spray paint formulas can ensuring that the foam will keep its shape once the paint has been applied with the paint also offering maximum flex if required. That said though, there have been a small number of reports from people suggesting that there can be small side effects when used on foam so our advice would be to do a small test on some spare foam prior to applying it to your main piece.

The Best Acrylic Paint For Eva Foam!

The majority of the cosplay community would agree that FX Flexible Acrylic Paint is probably the best option on the market for use on eva foam. It tends to bond well, flex if needed, and come in a wide range of colors making it easy to get the color that you require for your foam. Depending on the situation, a paint primer may be required but the FX flexible acrylic paint can work well without the use of a paint primer sometimes too.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Plastic?

Plastic can be hit and miss for FX flexible acrylic paint due to there being seven different types of plastic but the paint will bond well to the more common types of plastic. If you are looking to use plastic as a part of your cosplay design then FX flexible paint should work fine while being flexible enough to tolerate any flex from the plastic when moving without you having any major problems too.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Rubber?

Although FX flexible paint can work well on rubber, we would highly recommend the use of the FX Primer if possible to ensure that the paint will bond well without issues. Both the FX Primer and the FX acrylic paint offer enough flex to move with rubber and not crack or peel. With rubber becoming more and more integral to cosplay costumes, FX flexible acrylic paint can be a great option to take.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Fabric?

The FX Flexible Acrylic Paint formula leads the market when it comes to painting fabric that will be worn due to the excellent flexibility the paint offers once dry. One of the primary reasons that this acrylic paint formula was developed was to allow people to customise their clothing without having problems with the minimal flexibility in traditional acrylic paint formulas. Thankfully, the formula has blow all expectations out of the water and quickly become the dominant option for flexible acrylic paint for fabric with it having an excellent reputation amongst the community.

Can You Use FX Flexible Acrylic Paint On Shoes?

Although FX flexible acrylic paint can work very well on shoes, it will depend on what the shoes are actually made from. For example, canvas shoes will work well without any other preparation and the paint just being applied directly to them. Leather shoes will usually need to use the FX primer to ensure that the paint can get a good bond to the leather surface but if you don’t require the flexible properties of the acrylic paint then a regular primer will work just as well as the official FX one.

Conclusion

That brings our article going over how flexible acrylic paint is to an end. Although regular acrylic paint offers minimal flexibility, some of the new specialist paint formulas that have been designed to be as flexible as possible really have been taking the market by storm recently. If you are involved in cosplay or any other arts and crafts niche where you know that you will be needing to use a flexible acrylic paint formula then they really are worth their higher price tag due to their higher flexibility and great performance.