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Using Liquid Emulsion to Print on a T-Shirt? And then wash it?


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Hi,

 

I wonder if anyone can help. I've been using liquid emulsion for a

while now; printing onto canvas mainly. However, i tried this week

printing onto a tshirt. Developed, stopped, fixed and washed as

normal (just as for a B&W print but longer in the Fixer and wash).

However, as I suspected - it didn't hold up in the washing machine

with my laundry.

 

Would using a hardening fixer make any difference? Or is there a

better way of printing onto a Tshirt using your home darkroom than

Liquid Emulsion?

 

Any ideas gratefully recieved!

 

Lee

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Yes, you can print on fabic with cyanotypes.

 

THis place has ready made products, are of course you can coat your own fabic. It is much messier than liquid light but can be washed but only with particular soaps, i.e. dove, etc. They will give you a whole list of products that can be used

 

http://www.blueprintables.com/

 

There is also a very interesting book on printing with fabics . It is out of print but Bostick and Suillvan still show it in their catalog. Or checked use. This woman is printing on silk , cotton, and using not only prussian blue, but other colors as well. The book is "Blueprints on Fabric " by Barbara Hewitt.

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Liquid emulsion really is gelatin with silver. It gets very fragile in water. Hot air and water will make it melt and I doubt it would even survive a cold water wash cycle. Wet, swolleb liquid emulsion is very fragile.

 

Cyanotype is your best choice. The pigment the process creates - Prussian Blue - was used by the textile industry until the 1970's. You'll probably want to use alum or another such product to harden the pigment-fabric bond.

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