Canvas Tent cleaning / de-painting

[Tipi]

I have recently purchased a canvas bell tent from gum tree, seems to be in excellent condition other than someone has stencil spray painted some words on it.

Has anyone any ideas for cleaning it off?
Seems to be black paint and canvas is cream.

Was thinking white spirit and a scrubbing brush possibly.

Realise will probably need to reproof after, advice on that too would be appreciated

 

[Robson Valley]

You won't get the paint off. More, you won't get the paint out of the fabric.
By capillary action, the paint has wicked into the cellulosic structure of the cotton fabric.
Sucking that out with any solvent will be conspicuous.

Washed/soaked from the inside over an outside absorbent pad will reverse the flow of application.
Can you mask this mess with some cosmetic application of other colored designs?

 

[Billy-o]

What does it say?

Can you turn it inside out?

Depending on what paint it is, white spirit, acetone or nitromors might make a dent in it ... sun and sea will likely bleach it too. In the end though you might end up painting over it ... unless it says Wall's Sausages c. 1959 or Guinness is Good For You ... any toucans there?

 

[Toddy]

Black's a pain to remove. Depending on what the paint actually is....if they painted 'over' the waterproofing, then it might well come off with cellulose thinners.....be careful that trying to remove it doesn't leech it out into more of the fabric though. RV's comment about a pad behind to soak is good. Cotton make up remover pads and do it in small bits at a time with an old toothbrush.
If the paint is acrylic then it's not supposed to wash off, etc., but biological washing liquid will do a number on it (like it does to black denims).
How big is the writing anyway ?

You might be best to think on a design that you can 'over paint', i.e. fabric spray and stencils (dead easy, cut them out, spray lightly on the back with spray on tacky glue, spray through, let it dry a bit, remove stencil. Multi coloured leaves, etc., all very effective)

Try a wee bit with cotton buds and kitchen towels behind and see if you can make any impression on the writing. See if you can get any idea of what the paint actually is.
Could it just be thick marker pens ? They'll mostly come out with thinners, or WD40, though that'll leave you with an oily kind of bit that you'll need to use the biological liquid on.

M

 

[Tipi]

Says “Firetrap” on it. Front back left and right about a 1’ long and 4” high.

Not really something I really wanted written on a tent!

Will do some experimenting with various solvents and cotton buds with a pad behind; see if I make any progress.

If not I’ll have to come up with some sort of design!... Almost like tattoo fixers!

 

[Tipi]

Apologies, forgot to say thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Billy-o]

Firetra are a well-known Italian manufacturer of canvas goods.

Whilst not exactly true, it could signal an approach to the problem

 

[Seagull]

Could you not cover the offending area with a sewn-on overpatch?
Ceeg

 

[Billy-o]

Or, just own it

How to: http://midtown.net/dragonwing/col9809.htm

You could go architectural -





Not sure but the second one looks maybe like it is a combination of patches and paint. Also is it possible that the tent is a De Waard? I think it might technically be illegal (or at least a pretty severe venial sin) to do that to a De Waard, no matter how well executed