# cheap ways to do screen printing (continued), acrylic paint, textile medium



## shirtsari (Mar 15, 2011)

I wanted to continue my ideas for doing screen printing cheaply.

Has anyone tried using acrylic paint on fabric? If so what were your results.

I had bought a small bottle of Textile Medium from Dessere's.
(The brand was Delta Ceramcoat,Painter's Helper)
According to the label can be added to acrylic paint to transform acrylic paint into a washable fabric paint.
What I really wanted to know was whether I could mix it with dollar store acrylic paint. I had used DecorArt Crafter's ink, Christmas Red from Dollarama in Toronto. 
I printed some samples on different fabrics using only the acrylic paint. Then I printed some sample using the mixture of the acrylic paint and the textile medium.
I had planned planned to use the iron to iron some of the acrylic paint sample and some of the textile medium/acrylic paint mixtures and then wash them all to see if any of them washed out. However, I got busy (or was I just lazy) and I did not iron the sample or wash them for a whole week. I was very surprised by the results of the washing.
The acrylic paint on a cotton sample did not seem to wash out at all after the first wash and dry. The textile medium/acrylic paint mixture did not wash out at all from any of the samples so it seems to work. The acrylic paint fade slightly on an unknown fabric (I think it was 100% polyester).
The acrylic paint had a week to cure properly so that may be why it did not wash out so easily after the one wash.
It is probably best to let the acrylic paint thicken a bit before using it to screen print otherwise it will have a tendency to get under the screen.

P.S. I have Excalibur inks(plastisol for fabrics and yes I used it to make an outdoor sign for my friend and it is holding its own against the winter elements, so far), 
PVC inks (solvent based, for plastics), 
Speedball , Permaset, Maprin inks, and ASC356 water based inks.
I like to experiment. Not everyone has a lot of money to spend so the more tips they can get the better. I don't NEED to use acrylic paint but maybe someone else does.


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## dkhewett (Sep 28, 2010)

i am experimenting w/ various mediums like vinyl, leather, neoprene etc. Trying to determine what kind of inks to use or if there is a paint option. The idea is obviously to find the best way for the most archival images printed on said surface/s. 
thanks


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## cromwell (Jun 4, 2012)

shirtsari said:


> I wanted to continue my ideas for doing screen printing cheaply.
> 
> Has anyone tried using acrylic paint on fabric? If so what were your results.
> 
> ...


i went through the same process which i started because my daughter wanted a heart painted on a old shirt of hers so i tried to do it on the cheap using normal acrylics and no medium at first and hand painted onto the shirt then speed dried it with a hair dryer and finally ironed it for a few mins and the image is still there without a drop of fading but has a heavy feel to it and that was using cheapish acrylics ....then i tried a 50-50 mix of acrylic to medium which once cured and if you haven't painted it on too thick will have a softer feel to it and both items have had 20 plus washes and no fading at all


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