Printing on Fabric at Home Q & A

Last week I shared easy techniques for printing on fabric at home and the response was amazing…. But you had questions, many questions. So, I wanted to take the time to answer all of them and share a few more photos.  (Be warned, this is a long post due to the questions and photos but I wanted to be thorough.)

 Printing on Fabric at Home Q & A

 

Please note that many of the questions overlapped and I did my best group them together.

Q: Many of you wanted to know what type of printer I used and does this have to be a ink-jet printer?

A: My at home printer is an Epson ink jet model number WF-2540. It takes Designed for Excellence ink, it is nothing special just standard ink that I bought at my local office supply store. Some of the features listed on the box include:

• Vivid color,sharp text
• Instant dry, smudge resistant
• Fade resistant

Q: Are these fabric sheets for laser or ink jet printers?

A: All of the printable fabric sheets that I found were at the store level were made for inkjet printers.

Q: Deb wants to know: How do you set the ink? I have had my images fade with washing.

A: Each printer sheet requires different steps. Years ago I used fabric sheets that required the ink to be set with a hot iron but none of the packages I found on the market mentioned this. Perhaps technology has improved. That said, I did iron my standard fabric before attaching it to my tester.

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Q: Can you tell us more about the computer software needed and the source of other printables?

A: There is no special software required for these labels. You can download the pattern and hit the print button on your computer.

Q: Bree left a comment: I can’t wait to try this, but first I have to ask:

How well does this hold up to washing? Is there a specific type of printer/ink to use?

A: Well Bree, I’m so glad you asked! Since this was a question was asked by many, I wanted to really break it down and share photos of each type of option for printing labels on fabric at home. Here are photos of my labels throughout the washing process.

Printing on Fabric at Home Wash Results

To start off, I purchased these 3 types of printable fabric sheets at my local fabric shop. There are many different brands on the market today but this is what was available at my local shop.

• Printed Treasures by Dritz
• Quilted Label Fabric Sheets by June Tailor
• Fusible Fabric Sheets by June Tailor

I made these observations after getting them home, opening the package and comparing.

1. The only difference between June Tailor quilting Label fabric & June Tailor fusible fabric sheets is the packaging.
2. June Tailor is a crisp white in color, Dritz is more of a slight cream.
3. Both have a slight texture and soft handfeel.
4. June Tailor is a fusible iron on and Dritz  is sew on.

To start the process, I printed my Artsy Labels  out on each printable fabric sheet on my Epson ink jet printer. They both worked perfectly.

Then I added a personal note with Tulip Fabric Marker and noticed that the white ground of June Tailor made my writing clean and crisp. Dritz looked slightly faded.

Dritz suggested an additional step before attaching to fabric. So, I followed the instructions on the package.  Peeled away the paper, rinsed in water and let air dry.

After the printed fabric sheet was dry, I lined up a ruler and noticed that my fabric piece was slightly off grain and distorted. (Can you see the light gray line above the ruler?)

Since I wanted to see how these printed labels would react in real life, I stitched & ironed them onto a scrap piece of fabric. But I didn’t stop there. I made them into a mini quilt.

Now, it’s time to wash and tumble dry.

*Note: The June Tailor packaging states to hand wash and tumble dry. That does not work in my world so, each was placed in the washer with my everyday laundry. To be clear, there was no color sorting (outside the norm), pretreating or special additives introduced. Just plain old laundry!

After 1 washing

Labels after 5 washings

After 8 washings

And after all the washings were complete I realized that I did not take clear pictures of the labels printed on my fabric at each step. So, here is the before washing and after 8 times in the machine. You will notice that there is not much difference between them and they did not fray as much as the fabric printer sheets. *Remember, these labels were lighter in color saturation than the Artsy Labels.

My biggest take aways-

• Follow the instructions on packaging.
• Consider the color of your fabric if it is a crisp clean white, you may want to opt for the June Tailor printer sheets.
• Fabric printer sheets were softer and more pliable than I expected.
• Labels will fray when washed over and over.
• Outside of the fusible backing, there was not much difference between the brands.
• I do a TON of laundry!
• And just like our clothes, these labels will fade over time.

Feel free to leave me a note in the comment section if you have any additional questions about printing on fabric at home. While I am not an expert in this type of printing, I can certainly help out by sharing my findings.

In the meantime, I will be sure to toss these label testers in the laundry over the next few weeks and circle back with an update once they reach 20 times around the spin cycle.  I really want to know how printing on fabric at home will hold up in the real world!

 

 

 

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