How to use Bubble Jet Set
to treat fabric for photos
Making
your own Photo Transfer fabric for use in an inkjet printer, is time
consuming but more economical than
commercially prepared
sheets if you are doing a large amount. One bottle of Bubble
Jet Set and Bubble Jet Rinse will prepare 40 - 60 fabric sheets for
printing. Use quality fabric (choose 200 thread count pima cotton
or PFD muslin) adhered to a stabilizing foundation so it won't jam
in your printer. You can also make Peel-n-stick labels. (see
below)
We recommend Epson inkjet printers, which use
archival ink. Most Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers will work, but
be aware that HP has currently released some new printers which can
only achieve a 50% permanency rate. This new ink is placed in
cartridge no. 10 and 11. If your printer uses cartridges 10 or 11,
use a different printer for printing on fabric. For more
information on choosing a printer,
read this article by CJenkins Company.
General Instructions for using BJS 2000:
- Do not use these instructions to prepare fabric for Inklingo. If you are using Inklingo, you WANT the ink to wash out.
- Cut your fabric slightly larger than the size you will be printing. (i.e. for 8½ x 11 cut your sheets 9" x 10½" or larger) This allows for shrinkage.
- Soak a whole pile of fabric sheets at the same time. Lay one sheet in the bottom of a flat plastic box and pour a little BJS on top. Wearing gloves, rub the liquid into the fabric until it is thoroughly soaked. Put a second sheet on top of the first, and it will soak up the excess liquid from the first sheet. Pour a little more BJS on the second sheet and rub it in. Continue until you have soaked all your fabric. Hang dry the fabric, or spread the fabric to dry on a table top covered with plastic. Do not leave the sheets touching each other - they may stick. Let it air dry for 48 hours. Pour any leftover BJS back into the bottle.
- Iron the fabric to a stabilizer (see below) until it is completely bonded with no air bubbles between the fabric and freezer paper. Cut it to fit your printer with a sharp rotary cutter. Trim any loose threads.
- Using the advanced or custom options of your printer properties, change the print settings to to the "finest DPI" (720x1440), the media type setting to "photo quality glossy paper" and the color adjustment to "vivid". (Do not use the photo ink, which is meant for paper. Use regular ink, or the new HP Vivera ink if you have an HP.) Set your printer to accept heavy paper and for manual feed. Feed the sheets one at a time. Don't forget to change these settings back when you are done!
- Run it through your ink jet printer and let sit for 30 minutes. Machine wash (delicate Cycle) in warm water with Bubble Jet Rinse. Do not let the fabric fold in on itself or twist during the wash. It may adhere to itself. Do not heat set with an iron - it is the wash which sets the print. Bubble Jet Rinse removes the excess dye and sets the existing dye so your quilt can be safely washed in the future.
- For more tips, consider joining the BJS user group or check the Bubble Jet Set Website. See Printing on Fabric for more helpful tips.
Stabilizing your Fabric:
There are several ways to stabilize your fabric in step 3. You could iron it to the shiny side of a piece of freezer paper. Use a hot (1200 watt) iron on the hardest surface you can find. A cutting board works well. Freezer paper is that wonderful stuff you can find in your grocers storage aisle or at a butcher shop. One side is paper and the other has a light coating of wax which melts when you iron it. It does tend to curl, so try to cut it into 8 ½" x 11 ½" sheets ahead of time. Flatten them under your cutting board for a few days, or press them to a pressing sheet . Pay extra attention to the side that is going through the printer first - you want that side to be solidly adhered to the freezer paper. Be sure to remove any stray lint, strings or threads.
Instead of freezer paper you could use Palette paper, available from your local art supply store, NASCO Art Supplies or Dick Blick's art supplies site. Choose Canson, Bienfang or Strathmore Paper Palette palette papers. ProArt Acrylic Media Palette is made differently and won't work for this project. Avery 8 ½" x 11 labels work too, if you can get the fabric to stick without bubbles. It stays sticky through up to 10 applications.
- Click here to order Bubble Jet Set 2000 for $16.95.
- Click here to order Bubble Jet Set Rinse for $6.95.
Please note: these are liquid chemicals and cannot be shipped using the "small, flat items" rate. There is a surcharge on shipping for chemicals due to the packaging required by the Post Office.
The BJS method of printing photos on fabric should not be used if you think the resulting fabric might be ingested - i.e. chewed on by a baby. It *is* a chemical after all.
Peel-n-Stick Labels
Lite Heat n Bond is a paper backed sheet of solid lightweight
heat activated adhesive. You iron it on to the back of your fabric,
then pull the paper off to create iron-on motifs. To use this for
printing on fabric, don't pull the paper off. Trim to paper size
and use in your ink jet printer to create labels or other items to
be ironed on to garments or quilts. Avery offers free
Design software which you can download and use to create
labels.
Roll with a lint roller, or check carefully for
threads that would mar the printed surface. Print the HNB-backed
fabric in your inkjet printer. The paper backing acts like freezer
paper -- but stabilizes it better. The best thing about using
this product is that, after printing, you can cut out the label and
iron it on -- then stitch around the outside edges for additional
stability. Order
Lite Heat n Bond for $2.99.
Nervous about doing it yourself? Printed Treasures makes a Peel-n-stick
product for use in making labels to be stuck to lunch boxes, mouse pads and the like. Order
Printed Treasures Peel n Stick Labels to order for $12.99
Retayne and Synthrapol
If you have a problem with fabric bleeding, you may need either
Synthrapol or Retayne.
Synthrapol is used to suspend and carry excess dye from fiber. It removes any unfixed or unreacted dye to keep it from redepositing dye onto areas of the fabric that you don't want to be stained. It is recommended for use as a pre wash to remove excess dye (especially in reds and blues), sizing, dirt and oils. Order a 16 oz bottle of Synthrapol for $7.00. Please note: this is a liquid chemical and cannot be shipped using the "small, flat items" rate. It has to be specially prepared for mailing so an additional shipping charge will apply to the entire package.
Retayne is used to set dye. For example, if you printed a text message on fabric, you can use retayne to to set it. If you have a piece of fabric you know will fade, you can use retayne to keep fading to a minimum. Order a 16oz bottle of Retayne for $7.00. Please note: this is a liquid chemical and cannot be shipped via first class. There is a surcharge on shipping for chemicals due to the packaging required by the Post Office.
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