my local printer has a pretty good printer and said it could print on fabric if I bring some in.
The fabric his supplier recommended is Ultrapoplin D240 which is a 7.1 oz fabric and seems pretty thick.
What are guys like boardlam and others using as fabric that they print on?
Or is it still best to use ricepaper? I’ve heard the colors aren’t as bright and fade over time.
Thanks for any help!
If you have access to a service or a buddy with an industrial inkjet, I would go with rice paper for ease of use.
The heavier fabrics will cause more trouble when you go to lam and sand.
Home inkjet or laser printing on rice paper is cheap-quick-easy. I do that too for stuff that does not merit a screen.
I get my rice paper from an art supply store, cut it, and tape it to a piece of plain paper for the trip through the printer or screening.
My personal favorite is screen printing on rice paper. Deep color and easy lamination. I have been screening for 30+ years and have access to professional grade screen making at work so I am a little ‘biased’ and do not have start-up costs like the next guy would.
As far as I know boardlams prints on either rice paper or fiberglass cloth. I just finished a board with the printed cloth and it looks great
Just my two cents, but if you have a large quilt shop in your town (or know some SERIOUS quilters!) they’ll be able to point you in the direction of large scale fabric printers. These large printers typically print on standard quilting cotton fabric (think muslin, thin sheeting). They will do a personal print for you from a flash drive file typically cheaper than trying to do it with home inkjet printer inks. Here in Brevard County, there is one on Merritt Island, and I’ve thought about using for a photo inlay on the next board I get.
Contact boardlams . I recently did some boards for a customer who had some graphics printed by board lams. They where printed on 4 Oz e cloth and were amazing quality. They aren’t cheap but you won’t get any better. Wish I could find the pics.
Nicely done Buellster! The overall effect is awesome with the cutlap and pinstripe and polish.
My previous comments were more for logos. You cats got this!
jrandy ive done a few simple logos with a screen and just used my same acrylic fabric ink and it has worked for the most part pretty good. interested in what ink you recommend?
Hi Deez, at home I use Union water-based on shirts, and something around 110-135 mesh so my home stuff is pretty ‘coarse’, but I can get some stuff all the way from idea to screen to printing without getting help at work. I just got some Speedball paper inks that are also water-based including a metallic silver. Sometime If I try to do a white background behind the other colors, there is too much ink and moisture and the rice paper wrinkles. Finer mesh for a smaller ink deposit would help that. I also mess around with artists acrylics for rainbow pulls on paper. At work we go with higher mesh counts and solvent based inks, so more detail but more people, equipment, chemistry, and ventilation required. I don’t print all the time at home but it’s fun to know that I can if I get a ‘hankering’ to do so.