How to Paint Plastic Swing Sets and Toys

I painted my daughter’s playground about 2 years ago. The wood part was raw painted red and the plastic was originally green that I painted white to match a shed we have in the backyard. The paint keeps chipping off the green plastic. The 1st product I tried to use was a spray paint made especially for plastic it started chipping off within 3 months the 2nd thing I tried to paint it with was with kilz but that lasted about 8 months and started chip off.

Is there any product that I could put on here that would stick to the plastic and not chip off? Once it starts to chip than the kids like the peel it the rest of the way off!

Our Answer

Hi John,

As you’ve learned, painting plastic, and especially plastic where a durable surface is needed, is no simple task. Despite the claims made by paint advertised to work on plastic, there’s a wide range of results. Had this been a plastic planter you painted, you may have gone years with the finish staying intact. But because this is a swingset, the results were entirely different.

There is a solution however, and that is a type of paint called a “bonding primer” or “high bond primer.” First, to just back up for a second, primers are the glue that makes paint stick. They are great for new work like painting fresh drywall, but just as effective for painting over a surface with a history, like a wall that’s been covered in scuff marks, smoke stains, etc. The primer has one job, and that’s to adhere to the substrate (surface) its applied to. It’s not designed to be a finish coat. In fact it has zero of the qualities a finish coat would normally have, like UV resistance for example. It is simply there to help the new paint stick to a brand new or otherwise compromised surface.

When it comes to painting to a smooth surface, you need a very special type of primer. That’s where the bonding primer comes in. If you are panting PVC, fiberglass, formica, glazed tile and other similar surfaces like a plastic swing set, the bonding primer has a significantly increased adhesive power to stick to that surface. From your description, it doesn’t sound like that was what was used in this case.

So, where do we go from here? Well, before you can apply the bonding primer, it’s also critical that you prep the surface, Normally, we’d say to wash it thoroughly, and then scuff it, using something like a Scotch pad. In your case though, you’ll need to remove al of that old paint right down to the original green plastic. No matter how good the primer and top coat are, you can’t put good paint on top of bad paint and expect any different result!

So, the steps are essentially as follows:

Remove the old paint. Hopefully this will all peel off. If you need to use a paint stripper, I’d suggest a citrus type stripper but read the label to make sure it works on plastic. Some strippers could cause the plastic to deteriorate.
Clean the surfaces. You can use soap and water, just make sure to dry everything to hourly.
Scuff the surfaces. Use a Scotch pad, or light fine grit sandpaper.
Wipe the surfaces again, to remove all dust from the scuffing.
Apply the bonding primer.
Apply the top coat fairly soon after the bonding primer has completely dried. Be sure to choose a durable top coat. If it were me, I’d lean towards a solvent based top coat (not latex) as these usually have much harder and more durable surfaces. I like the Rust Oleum line. My rule of thumb though is the longer the finish takes to dry, the harder and more durable the finished surface is!

To help you further understand the specifics of painting plastic, I found this video quite useful. The producer is painting parts for automotive restoration but the principals are the same and vry well explained.

As for the paint and primer, I’d stick with the big brands and use the same brand for both paint and primer. Some possibilities:

Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer. This product is designed for coating hard, glossy surfaces like tile, glass panels and plastic piping with minimal surface preparation. Can be tinted and is compatible with a full range of finish coat products.

Rust Oleum Universal Bonding Primer. Don’t let the name fool you. This stuff is designed for plastic surfaces and many others.

Valspar Outdoor Plastic Primer. I’m not as familiar with this product but it seem to have good reviews.

Finally, given the many attempts you’ve made thus far, I’d suggest that you take the process for a “test run” before committing to the entire swing set. For example, you could probably take a plastic seat off the swing set, prep it as stated above, then paint it first with and the Rust Oleum Universal Bonding Primer and a Rust Oleum top coat. For probably less than $20 in paint products, you be able to see pretty quickly what the finished surface will look like.

After a week or two, you can also test adhesion by sticking, a piece of duct tape to it and see if it pulls off.

Good luck with the swingset!