Any photograph, image or design that looks good in black and white is a great candidate for printing with Citra-Solv. It's permanent, can be washed in the washer, takes about 2 minutes to do and it's cheap and easy. Once you start printing it's hard to stop because the possibilities are pretty endless.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: What you need:
1. Citra-Solv. They have an incredible website with product info, art stuff, oder info, go here. If you live in the States you can find it at just about any Whole Foods. But save yourself a trip and go to their website if you live far from town. There are great ideas there that I didn't know about until after I wrote this 'ible.
2. Small shallow bowl
3. Cheap 1" or larger paint brush
4. Fabric you want to print on (this should be the smoothest fabric you can find - usually that means a tight weave, but experiment - if you don't have a lot of detail such as a photo you can use a looser
weave fabric.
5. An iron
6. Access to a copier that uses toner (most do, like a Xerox or Cannon etc.)
7. Newspaper or something to protect your dining room table if need be
8. A big spoon, wooden or metal
9. Some pins
10. Images you want to print
2. Small shallow bowl
3. Cheap 1" or larger paint brush
4. Fabric you want to print on (this should be the smoothest fabric you can find - usually that means a tight weave, but experiment - if you don't have a lot of detail such as a photo you can use a looser
weave fabric.
5. An iron
6. Access to a copier that uses toner (most do, like a Xerox or Cannon etc.)
7. Newspaper or something to protect your dining room table if need be
8. A big spoon, wooden or metal
9. Some pins
10. Images you want to print
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
I printed out a page from graphic fairy, bought the citra solv did everything you did and got nothing/
what am I doing wrong
I guess Im still not understanding,
I am thinking that the Citra-Solv is just acting as a heat transfer medium because you get about the same amount of transfer as I do when I don't pre-chill the paper.
Here briefly is my best method (but I have had success with variations):
(1) Chill your print paper overnight in the fridge (wrap in plastic to avoid condensation).
(2) Print a mirror image of your design out on a B&W or colour laser printer while the paper is still cold.
(3) Re-chill the paper and take it out of the fridge just before ironing.
(4) The iron has to be very hot, it should yellow paper slightly, Make sure the steam setting is off and there is no water in the iron. (And old iron kept for the purpose is best.)
(5) Place the design toner side down onto the fabric on a good flat ironing board and make sure the fabric is flat (pre-iron if needed).
(6) Iron until your patience is gone or the paper goes yellow. At times I have sprayed the paper with water from a mister to try to increase heat transfer.
(7) If you are really lucky the paper will be stuck to the fabric by the fused toner and you will have to wash it off with water. That usually gives the best result. Other times it just falls off dry, that usually means some of the toner will be still stuck to the paper.
can i chill multiple papers in the fridge or freezer in one plastic bag before ironing??? was going to attempt your process today! i am very excited because it will hopefully produce a crisp print especially with thin straight lines. :-)
You should be able to chill multiple sheets together but I have never tried it. Keep in mind that paper is a good insulator and chilling will take longer to get right to the middle of the stack.
I have been thinking lately that one experiment I haven't tried is to iron from the fabric side. The melted toner should move toward the heat by fluid absorption. Next time!
I guess I could do an Instructable on it, what would be cool would be to do a proper comparison of several methods to see what works best. I am not sure if I can get Citra-Solv here in Oz though.
We cold even print the same image - your way and my way and then wash however many times you want and post the results with photos.
As far as the bleach goes; toner colours are predominately pigments not dyes so very resistant to bleach and sunlight; particularly the black. Fused toner is more likely to be lost from fabric by extensive mechanical agitation ie as the fabric fibres wear away. Hence most of my articles that have faded eg the handkerchief, is so threadbare now I would say it is just about had it's day. I really only keep it because it was my first experiment with toner.
I will definitely try to get some Citra-Solv. Actually I should really get serious and checkout exactly what polymer is used for the toner binder and see what appropriate solvents I can find around the lab.
I have to tell you though the "chill trick" pretty well leaves very little toner on the paper when I get it perfect. I suspect that any solvent will only make the lines more diffuse. This would be good for photos but perhaps not as good for text and logos.
Comparing results for the same image is a great idea, I am buried in projects at the moment though, I will take this up thoroughly as soon as I get time.
When we are done we can post a link from this 'ible to our 'ible.
I just meant to attach your photos to a comment - when you have a chance. I think the 'unrelated stuff' would still be relevant here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTvyRhjY5c4&feature=youtu.be
Then I tried printing some off at the neighborhood gas station. For holding the print down I found using blue painters tape around the edges would stay on better if the citrisolve got under it. Masking tape released quickly. I held a cotton ball on the top of the bottle of citrisolve turning it over for two or three seconds to wet the cotton ball then rubbed the back of the print covering the whole back of the paper quickly to show the image. I started rubbing at one edge of the image with the edge of my spoon then raised a small corner to check if was doing anything and found It started transferring immediately! It made a dark crisp print that took maybe two minutes to do the entire thing!
It was Amazing! I had also tried some prints from office depot that didn't work. But all of the copy machines I tried that cost .10 cents a print at the station, grocery store, and a small printing company all worked great! It is worth the looking around to find that perfect printer. Once you see how easy it can be the possibilities are endless. And it's addictive. Just warning you. Lol!
If you want to color the print, use markers that are labeld either Textile or Fabric; these markers are intended for fabric and are permanent after heat setting (cover with paper and press with a medium heat iron). To hold the fabric stable while coloring with the marker, press freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric (shiny side of the freezer paper on the fabric; press on the paper side of the freezer paper with a medium hot iron to secure it to the fabric). After the marker has been heat set, remove the freezer paper (it pulls off easily).
Other options for coloring: fabric paints; acrylic craft paints with a Texile Medium; permanent stamping inks. All of these supplies are applied with a brush. Heat setting usually is required for permanency (that information will be on the label).
If you're determined to use some type of chemical to transfer the image to fabric...go to the drug store and get a fingernail polish remover pen. That cheapo (and easily found) gadget will transfer as well as anything. Be sure to wipe the marker over the back of the entire image area to ensure the transfer of the image to the fabric. When the transfer is complete, press on the wrong side of the fabric to ensure permanancy. Do not launder for a week.
I asked the guy at Kinkos if the copy machines were toner based and he said yes. I even peaked in side and saw the toner drum.......
Most all commercial printer and copy machine are toner printers.
This is a really great idea! Thank you very much for the post.