[fadzuli]

As the title suggests i was wondering if there's any difference in inks that i find over the counter at art stores that can be used on canvas.

Currently i urgently need a particular colour and i cant find one fast enough. so i was wondering will it work on normal cotton tees?

in addition i know that there are oil based and water based inks for screen printing, but what i would like to know is, is there such a thing as screen print ink for fabrics or for signages, etc? coz i saw this pint of screenprinting ink but it doesnt say wat can it be used for. so i was wondering if i can jus buy it and use it on shirts. will it affect anything?

hope you guys reading this get wat im tryin to say.

 

[Solmu]

Yes, there are different inks for different substrates. A paper printing ink will wash out of a t-shirt, for example. An art supply store could be selling textile ink or graphic ink (they usually have both) - if the product itself doesn't say (which it should) then the store should know which they sell.

Also, I've never heard of an art supply shop selling plastisol - so if you don't usually use waterbased ink, take that into account.

 

[fadzuli]

ic. thanks for the info! the art shop do sell fabric paints but they come in very small amounts and very exp. i bought a small bottle jus to try it out and the ink went right through the shirt! the ink then smudges, losing every detail of the design, then again i did a on-contact print so perhaps thats y. will try off-contact later. if it works i wonder how my prints can i get with 25ml of ink?

 

[fadzuli]

ok ive decided to purchase a black ink after asking the salesperson, but i doubt that he speaks the truth about what he claims. basically he said that the ink is "oil based", "can be used on fabric" and "able to mix colours to get the colour that i want".

did my first print, as usual it was horrible =P but here are the findings that i got.

"texture" - ive read somewhere that its suppose to be quite thick (margarine like) but wat i got is thicker than normal paints
"oil based" - the wet ink washes off with water. when transfered, it dries in air, when i iron on it, i see steam (which may be from the fabric). it also smudges into the fabric (perhaps due to low mesh count or my newbie technique). ihad some ink on my fingers and it washes off with water as well.

thats all i was able to gather for now. im soaking it in water after curing to c how it goes.

last enquiry, do you think i can mix colours? eg. blue n yellow to get green?

i know it sounds a bit far fetched but hopefully someone can help me figure out the properties of this ink.

 

[Solmu]

"texture" - ive read somewhere that its suppose to be quite thick (margarine like) but wat i got is thicker than normal paints

I'd describe waterbased ink as akin to honey, but these kind of subjective descriptions can be hard to get consistent between people.

When I hear "thick" and "oil-based" I think lithography or letterpress ink.

last enquiry, do you think i can mix colours? eg. blue n yellow to get green?

This should be fine. Occasionally you'll get unexpected results. For example, a lot of black inks contain blue pigment - they will look true black if you print it straight, but if you mix it with yellow you'll get green.

But if you're mixing within one brand, I've never heard of an ink that can't be mixed.

 

[fadzuli]

thanks for the input. so do you happen to know if wat i have is water-based?

 

[Solmu]

so do you happen to know if wat i have is water-based?

There's no way for me to know, sorry. Is there any information on the ink's packaging? A brand name? Instructions?

 

[fadzuli]

nope. other than the info i gave in the previous post no. 4. thats all that i know of the ink.

but jus out of curiosity, if i had dried oil-based ink on my hands will i be able to wash it off with water alone. and if its water-based instead, will it wash off, which it did?

 

[EIPC]

I do art prints occasionally...plastisol bonds wonderfully to un- gessoed canvas... and pretty well on gesso.

It also mixes better than oil paint in my opinion.

 

[Solmu]

but jus out of curiosity, if i had dried oil-based ink on my hands will i be able to wash it off with water alone. and if its water-based instead, will it wash off, which it did?

Waterbased will, oil based... I don't know - I'm yet to use an oil based ink. My speculation is that if it air dries it would wash off with water, but I don't know.

 

[fadzuli]

ok another update, i did one normal wash and the colour stays. but the overall hand is rather stiff, which i had expected.