lwbuchholz

I could use some suggestions. I am trying to make a quilt for my mother using her pictures of wildflowers. I have tried the bubble jet set and the ink washed out. I tried using a soda ash solution in reverse osmosis water and the ink washed out. I have an HP printer and an epson printer and find the same problem with both. I tried the special expensive sheets that are pretreated, about 3 or 4 brands and some of them were even worse. Do I need a special fabric? Or is there a way to set the ink in the fabric? If anyone can help me here I would sure appreciate it. I quess I am saying it wrong the ink doesn't all wash out just so much of it that the picture is very faded.

CoriAmD

I have used the iron on transfer method with success. Just remember to reverse the pictures before you print them so they come out right when you iron them onto the fabric. You can get the iron on transfer paper at JoAnn's right by the printable fabric sheets. Good luck!
;)

Deborahlees

are you waiting for the ink to dry. then wash in cold water. and iron with a hot iron. that has worked for me.

lwbuchholz

Thanks for the fast replies. The iron on sheets leave a stiff feel to the fabric and I don't know how easy it is to quilt through. I do let the ink dry and have experimented with the time to let it dry. From 1 hour to 1 day. No change. I have used different soak times with the solution and there is no difference. I have even tried to soak again after it is printed and dried and that does show a difference but not enough. Ironing doesn't make a difference either. I am frustrated because I think I have tried everything. I have to be missing something.

MrsM

I think you need to use a laser ink printer.

kathy

is you BJS old? do you shake it before you soak? is it deep enough in the pan to cover the fabric?
i've used BJS lots of times with very good results, as long as it is not a laser printer it should be good to go
waaay back patrice did some tests with diff printers , you might search her threads to find her results,
i "think" she said epson had best results

lwbuchholz

My bjs is old but even when I bought it new it wouldn't hold the ink. And I do shake it I followed the instructions on the bottle and online. I have tried different fabrics with it too. All cotton but different weights. The lighter weight the cotton is the better the picture still faded though.
Frustrating!!!!

eastermarie

Have you tried the fabric sheets from Jenkins. When you print on your fabric, you need to go into your printer settings and set it to super satuartion on ink levels. I've used his sheets many times. I tried the June Taylor brand and they were stiff. The ones from Jenkins were soft, held bright colors. www.cjenkinscompany.com I use a HP Officejet 6310 or the HP 14" wide paper printer.

patricej

are you sure you are using Bubble Jet Set?

they make a companion product called Bubble Jet Rinse, which is just a mild detergent you can use as an afterwash. it's about the same strength as woolite.

does the printer ink wash out completely, or just fade more than will be useful? if the problem is serious fade vs. total washout, are you by any chance using an HP printer? not all of their newer inks are the greatest for printing on fabric - even with BJS. the manufacturer discovered that a few years ago and now sells a special formula for use in HP printers. i never got around to testing it, so i can't tell you whether or not it will solve the problem. neither of my printers now is an HP.

lwbuchholz

I saw this brand on the net and wondered if it would be any different. I will have to try it..thanks.