Can you paint over vinyl

The short answer here is no. As a physicst for a company producing extruded plastic components. The chemical makeup of the PVC does not generally allow for proper adhesion of paints. There are some paints and particular formulations that will work. I would recommend contacting the manufacturer of Windows(not the company that you bought them from) and ask them to contact the resin supplier for you on this question. The above isn't entirely correct. While many paints will fail due to the fact that they cannot bond to the vinyl, using an alkyd primer, such as kils (reccommend using the spray can followed by thorough sanding and dusting), on the vinyl prior to painting your 2 coats, will allow you to paint the vinyl Windows. PVC can be effectively painted and has been in Europe for years. The paint must be formulated with reflective properties such that heat gain will not exceed 60F more than the ambinet temperatures. Application of the new coating are extremely critical. The thickness of the "wet film" has to be of sufficient thickness in order for the coatings to bond effectively. Before the paint is applied, the surface of the vinyl should be cleaned with solvents such as Acetone in order to remove surface waxes and to raise the surface tension of the vinyl. As well, the Windows must be fabricated properly to eliminate the heat traps created when frames and sash are welded as all good PVC Windows are fusion welded. Several coating companies specialize in this type of product and sell it to window fabricators for application. Aqua-Sur-Tech, Blue River and Sherwin-Willaims produce these types of specialized coatings. The ability to have exterior colors besides white and tan is a great thing for homeowners and several of the largest fabricators with household names are developing their processes to paint their products. There are several smaller window fabricators, Harvey Industries and Amerimax are two companies that have been apply coatings for years with no negative consequences to the product durability. MGM Industries is another company that has installed automated equipment to paint vinyl Windows. Many of the coatings are also low-VOC and some Zero-VOC based products which means that the coating are very environmentally friendly.