AboutConnie Hester Expertise Quilting and applique expert.Can advise on the following topics:quilting, art quilts, quilt design and construction, machine and hand quilting, paper foundation piecing, machine piecing, hand piecing, raw edge applique, turned-edge applique and fiber art.
Experience Winning awards in international fiber and art competitions since 1983; http://www.conniehester.com/
BS,MS
See my work and books at http://www.conniehester.com/
Question I am working on a quilt project with my daughters 5th grade class. The quilt will ultimately be auctioned off for the PTA. I have an epson printer with Durabright inks and need to print some sayings on cotton fabric in black. What is the best method? Do I need to pre-treat the fabric? What about heat setting? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks you, Michele
Answer Hi, Michele,
The fabric does not have to be treated for the ink to be water resistant, but you do need to "scour" the fabric first, to remove invisible grime and any surface treatment that may prevent the ink from adhering well. To scour about 1-3 yards of fabric, just run the cotton through the washing machine cycle with about 1/2 cup of soda ash (or, washing soda) and a teasoon or two of synthrapol (or, "Dawn" or "Joy" dishwashing liquid).
If you need large printed blocks, you can press the fabric onto sheets of freezer paper, then trim with a rotary cutter up to 8 1/4" x 11". You may be wise to fold a strip of scotch tape across the top edge of the freezer-paper-fabric. You shouldn't need to, but if you have trouble, try taping the freezer-paper-fabric to a piece of card stock along the top edge.
My favorite technique for smaller pieces is to tape the freezer-paper-fabric rectangle (about an inch larger than I want it to be cut after it is printed) a couple inches inside the top and left side edges of a sheet of printer paper. Then I align what I want printed on my graphics software, to print exactly where I taped my fabric (being careful to avoid printing on the tape!).
On my Epson C84, I don't change the setting for type of paper. If it is going to be text only, I would set the printing on "Text and Image" probably, or else the middle of the 5 choices for laying down the amount of ink. "Best/Photo" (I'm depending on my memory so I don't lose this AllExperts page by going into my printer settings to look! I have an HP printer, too.) setting lays down the most ink, but is definitely not needed for text only. I do use the "Best/Photo" setting (all the way to the right of the 5 printing quality choices) when doing photographic printing. Try a couple of settings to test which setting you prefer.
Once printed, since Durabrite inks are pigment-based inks and sit on top of the surface of the fabric (as opposed to dye-based inks which sink into the fibers but require Bubble Jet Set to remain water resistant - - and FADE badly), they can be subject to "crocking", meaning that they can degrade a bit over time by rubbing against them. To prevent this, I spray a VERY quick, VERY fine mist of Krylon clear acrylic paint across the printed fabric to seal it. It really isn't enough to change the drape of the fabric.
If you choose not to spray the printed fabric with Krylon (or, any brand should work), do rinse the printed text after allowing it to dry thoroughly, just to remove any loose molecules of ink that could soil the quilt permanently in the future when it is washed for the first time, as these loose molecules lift, float about, and land on surfaces at random. Rinsing consists of just laying the printed fabric FLAT in a bowl of water, swishing it about, leaving it for awhile, squeezing out the water, drying, and pressing.
The Durabrite inks do not need to be heat-set.
Hope this proves helpful. Let me know if I can help further.
