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/
I read a couple of your responses regarding fabric sheet printing, but I still have a few questions. I am trying to use the fabric sheets for my company's black t-shirts. I started out with transfer paper, but the paper cracked, bled, and then pealed away. My grandmother suggested fabric sheets for the durability.
So I have an HP 6110xi All in One and I recently bought the new Epson CX6000 with durabrite ink. I had orginally bought Wiltons Easyimage Fabric Sheets (Iron-On), but the ink with both printers looked very dull. So I returned the other packages I had bought. Before I buy another brand, do you have recommendations?
I saw on another post that you stated since Epson has durabrite ink that you don't need pre-treated fabric. Does this mean I can use any type of white fabric (assuming its sturdy enough to feed through my printer)? Then all I would need to do is add some type of acrylic adhesive.
I want the shirts to look professional and be very durable and breathable. I have about 10 shirts left to complete. They will be washed often. I am also only using green and red inks, if that helps you with your recommendations.
Thanks in advance for your adice. ~ Amber
Answer It's true, durabrite ink does not require Bubble Jet Set solution to make it water-resistant because durabrite inks are already water-resistant. That is all the Bubble Jet Set was designed to do for HP dye-based inks on fabric.
The important thing for you to do is to pre-wash your fabric (I would suggest a cotton sateen.) in order to remove anything from the surface of the fabric which could prevent a good bond between the ink and the fabric.
The other thing to keep in mind with pigment-based ink (like durabrite) is that it sits on the surface of the fabric rather than soaking down into it (like dye-based ink), so it can be subject to "crocking" (degrading from rubbing, like from lots of repeated washings). To prevent this, what I do is spray a very fast and very light mist of clear spray paint over the image. This does not constitute enough to change the hand of the fabric. It will still have its original drape/hang, but the surface will be sealed. I have used clear spray acrylic, clear spray enamel, and even a clear spray heavy coating that I had sitting around - they all work just fine because such a FINE mist is sprayed onto the fabric.
I would definitely use your Epson durabrite ink because even with Bubble Jet Set, the HP dye-based inks are not lightfast AT ALL and will quickly fade when exposed to natural and artificial light. Bubble Jet Set was not designed to deal with the issue of lightfastness.
