I am not big on shorts but I do need them for walking the dogs in summer months.
After a long and painful search, I found 'the' perfect pair at Winners. White. Normally, it's a colour I would avoid (being fair skinned) but the shorts were too nice (lots of pockets for poopie bags, sort of cargo shorts ... exactly what I was looking for).
Well, didn't I manage to wreck them yesterday? I was hanging a chandelier that had been spray painted bright reddish orange (a few DAYS ago) and didn't a bit of the paint rubbed off on my shorts while I was on the ladder? Grr.

I playd with the idea of using a paint thinner (the can had no instructions re cleaning) but the little bit that I had at home didn't look too good ... it was very dark and I was pretty use it would taint the fabric on its own, even without trying to clean up the paint.
I guess it was a sign from above that paint thinner is not the way to go because even if it lifts the paint I am pretty sure it would smudge it.

So now I am thinking of dabbing a bit of white latex paint on top of the orange one - unless anybody has any better suggestion?

are all worth a try. You'd have to launder them afterward so I wouldn't worry too much about whether or not it leaves a mark before you launder.  I'd get new stuff though. In fact, if there is a Home Hardware anywhere around you, take your shorts in there and ask them about paint thinners or "thinners" (I don't know if they are different but my husband is always using "thinners" - I think it's something to do with cars - to get out stains.  Anyway, take the shorts with you and ask them for ideas. Obviously, they can't guarantee anything but they've probably seen it all before (and then some!).  Failing all else, you could always dye them a darker colour or try a fabric marker in white (Michael's has a huge assortment) to cover the stain though when I tried that with a black on on a black sweater onto which I'd dripped bleach at school, it wasn't 100% successful. Might work better with white, though and would prob. be way better than using paint, which would get stiff.

Add some more paint spots to the shorts to make it look like the spots are suppose to be there.

You could try your own solvents--acetone, Goo Gone, paint stripper /thinner etc.  However, without knowing the fibre content, there is a risk that you will destroy the fabric.  Nylon and acetate are probably the most sensitive to chemicals and I don't imagine your shorts are acetate, but it would be a disaster if you shredded the fabric on your shorts. 

Polyester and cotton are pretty safe fibre types to work with, if you decide to do it yourself.  However, your dry cleaner would probably tell you off for not starting there--if you use your own chemicals it might alter what they are able to do.   You didn't mention what kind of paint caused the damage but be sure you take the details to the dry cleaner. 

If you try your own chemicals, work from the back with an absorbant towel /cloth at the front, and try to push the stain from the back of the fabric through to the cloth at the front. Hope this makes sense. You don't want to push the stain further into the fabric. 

Next step would be to dye them orange (brown?  dark grey? )    I think you would probably regret trying to cover orange with white, but I think Lexi has a very creative idea.

Good luck with you quest!

just a thought...how about dying them orange?   I did that with a white lacy nighty i had ,,it was too transparent to wear around the house so i dyed it a powder blue, turned out really nice.

I was going to suggest dying them the same colour as the paint smudge.  If you aren't careful with the thinners, you might end up with a stain you can't get out.  Too bad about the shorts. Good luck!

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers have worked for some. Use it to gently scrub the area until the paint is removed. Test a small hidden area first to make sure there is no damage to the color.

What ever you do don't use paint thinner this will make a bigger mess go to the hardware store and buy a product called contractors friend its pretty pricey but it works

There are two products that are excellent for this they are,,,,Goo Gone or Goof Off. They smell terrible bu they "do" work. You can get them at Home Depot or Lowe's. Also grocery or hardware stores.




that's all that i have

on where the stain is, you could sew or iron-on an embroidered patch over the stain.  There are some really nice patches available.

It's been a while since you posted...how did it go?  I like the suggestions to take it to a hardware store or dry cleaner and asking them for advice.  Turpentine sounds like a bad idea to me.

My sister's house got tagged with graffiti and the paint store suggested Graffiti Go, which worked beautifully.  Not sure if it's indicated for fabric though...

If it were me, I would try a few things but not get my hopes too high about getting paint off. I would wear the shorts anyway, if it's just for walking the dog or casual around the house. I would also use it as an excuse to go shopping, there are so many great sales on and it's a good time to buy a few pair for next year. Seems to be a pretty common type of shorts, so you might find something similar, I would start at Marks.