Printing on cloth

[Kenny Durrant]

I like the way cloth looks when cast. I think it make the final product pop. A friend of mine and I have been playing with transfer paper and then printing straight on the cloth. The first and only time we tried printing directly on the cloth everything looked good except for black smudges randomly across the page.
I don't want to complain about my wife but it's just the way it is. She uses the printer at home for work and I use it to play. She goes through quite a lot of paper so she uses both sides when she can to try to save a little. It doesn't smudge the paper like it did the cloth.
My question to you is can I clean up the printer or would I be better off buying a new one? Thanks

 

[Skie_M]

You'ld probably be dealing with a lot less hassle if you just bought yourself a cheap inkjet .... Those things need to be professionally cleaned, as the tech has to have access to where the inkjet ports are, and you can't just use any cleaning solution.

 

[campzeke]

I suspect you may be getting smudges because the cloth is thicker than paper and actually touching the print head as it moves through the printer. They make an iron on transfer paper for ink jet printers that may work for you.

 

[Skie_M]

I suspect that might be the case as well, in which case a stiff starch ironing may actually be the real key to your plan's success ...

You may want to invest in a clothing press... just make sure that the fabric is still pliable enough to go through the rollers without kinking.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Thanks for the replies. Of coarse it always looks easier when someone else does it but the women on You Tube said it worked well. It did look like it was very sporadic on the cloth. I'm thinking between my buddy and I we could split the price and get a nice printer and not be out a lot of cash. I first started with the transfer paper and it did well as long as there wasn't any fine lines. I tried stamps and it didn't want to work very well. This seemed to open up a whole new door so I'm anxious to see how far I can take it. Thanks again for your comments.

 

[oldtoolsniper]

Thanks for the replies. Of coarse it always looks easier when someone else does it but the women on You Tube said it worked well. It did look like it was very sporadic on the cloth. I'm thinking between my buddy and I we could split the price and get a nice printer and not be out a lot of cash. I first started with the transfer paper and it did well as long as there wasn't any fine lines. I tried stamps and it didn't want to work very well. This seemed to open up a whole new door so I'm anxious to see how far I can take it. Thanks again for your comments.

This is probably far out there but why not take the cloth to the office supply store and see which one will do what you want. We have a staples here and the whole crew is very helpful when I think up odd things to do. They may let you test print on the display printers.


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[Kenny Durrant]

I don't think they will let me test a printer because I've never seen one set up to try. It sure wouldn't hurt to ask and maybe someone there might know which printer would work best.

 

[Skie_M]

Uhh .... no, the models on display out on the floor aren't powered up or available for use, as far as I understand it ...

But if you go to their office & print center, THEY might be able to help you with their inkjet and laser printers back there .... I'ld suggest telling them you want inkjet printing, though. Laser printers use a hot-roller inside to print with and that may not work too well with certain fabrics, especially man-made ones.

 

[duncsuss]

Perhaps try this? Inkjet Fabric Sheets -- cloth that is designed to go through an inkjet printer (they have two types, cotton and silk).

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Thanks again for all the replies. I think what I did with the freezer paper and cloth is basically what I did but the Blink Paper is cheap enough to give a try just to see if there is some small detail I'm missing. I'm thinking being able to resize images and printing to cloth will open up a whole new world in casting for me.