Kelly- Canvas is paint friendly so you can be as creative as you want painting designs on it etc. The boiled linseed oil is added to make the paint flexible otherwise it could crack and leak.

This worked for me - Use a flat alkyd paint rather than a high gloss paint. I gave the whole kayak a base coat of white thinned with boiled linseed oil 50/50 . Then 2/3 paint 1/3 oil for the next coats using the white for the hull and a darker color for the deck. The first two coats can have a filler added such as chalk powder used in field marking, slowly add a few handfuls stir well. Don't go below a ratio of 75%paint and 25% linseed oil or cracks are likely. Stir the paint every five minutes or so.

Paint stores regularly have sales on mistinted and old paint so shop around, no need to buy the best.

Have fun

: Hello all,

: I need to know how much paint to get for my canvas kayak. I will just go with
: exterior house paint. I can piece together the scraps left after trimming
: to get a good idea of how much surface area there is, but I don't know how
: much paint the canvas will soak up. I will probably apply two coats
: thinned by about 50%, and then a final coat unthinned or thinned slightly,
: unless someone tells me the errors of my ways! I definitely do not want to
: end up buying several small cans, and wind up paying twice as much as I
: should have (anyone relate??). Thanks,

: kellyt