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Digital printing on cotton - linen Need Advice...
cjoakley Intermediate BC CANADA Member since 1/31/13 Posts: 19	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/15/13 8:35 PM Trying this post again - sorry - must have hit the post button somehow before I'd finished typing in the title. Anyway - I am trying to print my artwork on cotton and linen. I've just re-washed after printing (black ink only as these are from drawings) on 100% cotton muslin... I ironed 4 of the 5 printed panels on the back to heat seal - did not heat seal the 5th panel so I could see if it made any difference to the colour fastness/degree of fading. Threw the all the printed panels inside an old pillow case and used a hair tie to fasten it shut...before chucking them into the washer again hot cycle with a little bit of regular detergent. (I'm intentionally trying to give these the roughest use in order to guarantee the quality of my finished products) I'm using a very basic HP Deskjet 1000 inkjet printer - no pre-treatment (i.e. bubble jet set or anything like that) all the 8 1/2 x 11 panels just came out of the dryer... And wow - the black ink is almost completely washed out on all of them so obviously heat sealing them didn't work. Does anyone have experience printing digital images on fabric?
goodworks1   Advanced IL USA Member since 7/19/03 Posts: 3300	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/15/13 9:52 PM The only time I had luck was printing with a laser printer. That worked well. (The heat comes with the printing method, but I also pressed them after printing.) I've heard that if you use PIGMENT ink in your printer (some Epson's let you do this...not sure of other brands) that it can be heat set. Maybe you could paint something on the surface to seal it, but not sure what.... I hope someone else can shed some light on this.... -- Edited on 2/15/13 9:53 PM -- ------ blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com
quiltingwolf Advanced MD USA Member since 12/15/02 Posts: 5023	Login to reply to this post In reply to cjoakley << Like this post Date: 2/16/13 8:00 AM You have to use a specialty treated fabric. Ink jet ink will wash out of almost anything. You can buy the pretreated sheets or I believe there is a solution you can get then cut them down to size. ------ quiltingwolf.blogspot.com
TessKwiltz   Intermediate TX USA Member since 9/21/07 Posts: 1319	Login to reply to this post 1 member likes this. Date: 2/16/13 11:16 AM Goodworks is right, HP printers use a dye-based ink which will not react to the fabric unless the fabric is treated. I've used Bubble Jet Set for smooth quilting-weight cotton but I've not tried it on linen. I've had good results with Golden Digital Grounds on heavier fabric. There's a Yahoo group on digital fabric printing that has more folks with a wider range of experience than you are likely to find here. I invested in an Epson wide-format printer just for fabric printing. It uses a pigment ink that does not require fabric treatment like the dye-based inks do. Edited for typos. Dratted Fire is great for reading but I bate typing on touchpads -- Edited on 2/16/13 11:19 AM -- ------ Tess On threadpainting flowers: "How many colors are in a flower? ... How many do you have?" - Ellen Anne Eddy
PattiAnnJ   Advanced OH USA Member since 12/3/06 Posts: 4991	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/16/13 11:54 AM You can buy pre-treated sheets of fabric that will feel through the printer. You can find them at JoAnn. Make sure to select the ones for Ink-Jet printers.
PattiAnnJ   Advanced OH USA Member since 12/3/06 Posts: 4991	Login to reply to this post In reply to TessKwiltz << 2 members like this. Date: 2/16/13 11:55 AM Get a stylus for touch pad typing. It makes a big difference.
TessKwiltz   Intermediate TX USA Member since 9/21/07 Posts: 1319	Login to reply to this post In reply to PattiAnnJ << Like this post Date: 2/16/13 3:00 PM Thx ------ Tess On threadpainting flowers: "How many colors are in a flower? ... How many do you have?" - Ellen Anne Eddy
cjoakley Intermediate BC CANADA Member since 1/31/13 Posts: 19	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/17/13 8:10 PM Thanks everyone - appreciate the tip on Yahoo group... I read on another board that it works if you pre-treat the fabric with downy ultra. I am in the process of trying that but having issues with it already. The fabric doesn't adhere to the freezer paper well enough to feed it through the printer...aaargh! But having just read here that HP or any inkjet ink won't work anyway (without bubble jet set or similar or the commercial pre-treated fabric sheets I'm beginning to suspect this is a big waste of time and effort. I don't have a laser printer but I'm sure I could find someone who does and try that. TessKwiltz - I'd be very interested to hear more about your Epson wide format printer and experience using it...
Al Johnson Beginner MN USA Member since 2/17/07 Posts: 1179	Login to reply to this post 1 member likes this. Date: 2/19/13 9:31 AM I have an Epson printer that uses the pigment inks, and bought some fabric on paper backing (8 1/2 X 11) at JoAnn's. It worked great. I put a complete layer of pennies on the scanner glass, made a copy of that, and used the resulting "penny cloth" to line a coin purse... ------ A sewing machine is just a welder for textiles.
goodworks1   Advanced IL USA Member since 7/19/03 Posts: 3300	Login to reply to this post In reply to Al Johnson << Like this post Date: 2/20/13 7:33 PM Al, what Epson are you using? Did you buy the ink tanks? (retrofit) ------ blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com

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