Inkjet Printing on Fabric

Step 6 Print!

Find some image you want on a piece of fabric and print away. You'll be surprised at the level of detail. This Instructables logo in the picture is just over two inches wide.

You can print anything you want. I found this technique because a friend wanted to create some treasure maps for a pirate party. If you want the image to be on something that will get a lot of use you might want to treat it with this stuff.

Comments

[debzi]

This is brilliant if you want to make a stuffed toy etc. It doesnt matter that the ink wont stay on after washing. Its perfect to use to cut out the fabric pieces without the hassle of tracing or pinning favric to a pattern Also ace for applique pieces. Simply print, cut out and then remove paper. saves heaps of time. fabuloose!

[gomsmo]

Sadly, these are far from colorfast. You cannot use this technique with anything you plan to wear or wash. Not a good technique for quilts or...Still looking for ways to make the fabric colorfast without having to buy the chemicals designed to make the fabric colorfast. Maybe something you can find in your home...maybe.

[pinklightning_22]

Do you think this method will print on silk? Thanks!

[liddlehopper]

Was wondering after you print..do you like peel off the plastic or is it permanantly fused to the fabric?

[timweaver17]

you can peel the freezer paper off pretty easily

[JudieB]

Thanks so much,... What to do with this??? I'm having a blast.... I'm constructing cloth dolls with family photo faces... Thanks so much!

Judie

[shill7]

thanks so much this worked really well!

[secheric]

Thanks for this awesome instructable. Can't wait to try it. I use transfers but i don't like the residue it leaves.

[lindalll]

Would this technique work for thicker fabrics like felt? Or pellon (interfacing)? I am fumbling trying to make background and character images for a felt storyboard. The iron on transfers create a glossy surface to which other felt pieces will not adhere.

[Chucks_Party]

Just wondering what you would actually pay for all this stuff when you can go to your local pharmacy and pick up T-Shirt paper at only $1 per sheet and it lasts longer through washings. Seems like you'd spend more doing it your way although, I found it interesting.

[kcls]

because with iron on paper can only be ironed on to cotton, whereas you could sew this on to anything, like fleece.

[jrenshaw]

Where do you get tshirt paper for only $1 per sheet? Thanks!

[kerikakes]

http://cheaptotes.com/transfer_paper.html

[Dragontrap]

Very nice find! Perfect for what people want to do with their ink-jet printed images :3

[Chucks_Party]

Rite-Aid carries it in packages of 8 I believe. Look on the aisle that sells sheet paper for printing.

[fungus amungus]

Freezer paper costs far less than the transfer sheets. You can pay less than five cents a square foot. If you have an Epson printer with the right ink it'll last as well. The other chemicals for other printers would add up, though. Thing is, this technique is more for craft stuff. You have to cut the fabric up and feed it through a printer after all. And that's not going to be washed as much. Also, transfer paper typically leaves a residue on the fabric.

[shinyglass]

When you use this technique, try to stick with natural, woven lightweight fabrics...cotton, linen, muslin. If you pretreat your fabric by soaking it in a solution of borax (1 cup to 5 gallons of HOT water), then dry it thoroughly, most inks (including refills) will take better and last longer. This soaking process removes the sizing, a chemical coating on the fabric fibers that helps it hold its shape.

[Scrupulous]

Hey fungus, this is a great instructable. You know, color laser printing is relatively permanent, I believe even on fabric. At least, it doesn't run when you get it wet. But with ink-jet, what you can do is spray a light coat of clear varnish (or acrylic, etc.) over the image, and on the backside if necessary. The coating then becomes waterproof, but stays pretty much invisible I'm curious about something. I don't know enough about computers to know if this is possible, but... What if you replaced say the black cartridge ink on your ink-jet printer with some solvent that eats through cotton? (I suppose you would use a combination of the colors to get black.) Could you assign true black (the solvent) to a thick yet precise border that surrounds the intended image, and eats away the adjacent material to give you a "trimmed" cloth image that you could use as an iron-on patch?

[ChemicalZ]

Or you could use a pair of sisors... That is a proven method that works : )

[emmartz]

thanks for giving me an idea....can you cite some more examples other than clear varnish? because im working on a shirt right now and i wanted the prints to really last.. by the way i started learning bout transfers just for two days ago, i really don't have much idea bout it.. your suggestions would be a great help for me...thanks in advance..

[Maxaxle]

If you put in too much of the solevent, then it won't turn out well.... *imagining the mess* Scrupulous: OMG! My shirt! (shirt has a hole in it where the solevent was used) Scrupulous:[typing] The solevent made a huge hole in my shirt, so DON'T TRY IT! (Scrupulous posts the message) (Maxaxle reads the message about an hour later) Maxaxle:[typing] That wasn't very smart, now was it? *POOF!* I guess that's how it would turn out...

[Maxaxle]

I just noticed: the square quotation marks make your text [orange]! They look like this: [ ]

[zaro12345]

It makes your text a link to nothing. It's not nessesarily a good idea. Imagine someone with dial-up click on that, thinking it's somethin interesting, waiting for an hour, for nothing.

[Maxaxle]

Oh.

[JamesRPatrick]

Yeah, there's a discussion about it in this [forum].

[Ruth Williams]

I think this sounds more versatile and much more creative. It isn't just for tee shirts - this application can be used for all types of fabric art - and yes, after you buy the supplies you can get more bang for your buck. Muslin can be purchased on sale for about 1.00 a yard and quilters and fabric artists would appreciate the less cost factor  in the long run. Great idea - thanks. I'm going to try it.  

[smilingnox]

hi everyone,i really wanna know how to print stuff on t-shirts..i m from the south pacific island and i do know how to draw a lot of polynesian designs...you can e-mail me at [e-mail]..Thanks and God bless.

[Maxaxle]

Wow this is a good instructable. I've always wanted to make my own T-shirt. Now, what to put on it....lol.