# leather?



## fsyxxx (Oct 26, 2006)

i need to print on leather that has been dyed black... what should i use for inks, mesh counts, and anything else that i am forgetting?

thanks


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## HeathenPeddler (Nov 30, 2006)

I'd love to know the answer to this one too - I do a fair bit of leathercrafting


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I didn't even know it was possible to screen print leather. Although it makes sense. I think Fluid or Solmu might know of an ink that might work?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Rodney said:


> I didn't even know it was possible to screen print leather. Although it makes sense. I think Fluid or Solmu might know of an ink that might work?


I know that it's possible (because I've seen it done - worked well too, was made into custom leather journals/diaries). Unfortunately that's about where my knowledge ends. I haven't printed on leather myself and didn't discuss how it was done. 

I'd speculate the printer used a normal paper ink and a 110t (280) mesh, but I'm not at all sure. Hopefully someone else will have specifics.


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

I dug around on Google a little..

I found this page from Dow Corning about a new silicone-based printing ink:

Dow Corning offers new high-performance silicone screen printing ink - Dow Corning

Here's another page from the same site, specifically for leather:

Fashion Textiles - Natural Leather and Synthetic Leather - Dow Corning

I didn't even know there was such a thing as silicone based ink.. pretty neat.


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## instrumental (Dec 28, 2006)

you can do it, you add a nylon bonding agent, just like printing on a nylon jacket, you can get it from a few different companies. do a few tests, and when you are ready for production make sure you mix enough of whatever color you are doing.

honestly i have never printed on leather cause of my own personal reasons, but i know it works like that, like always do a test and write down all your findings for your own files


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## zagadka (Jul 6, 2006)

post a picture of your finished product if you can, i'd love to see how it turns out.


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## fsyxxx (Oct 26, 2006)

cool... i will post pics.. had a friend who has done it so he told me that he would walk me through the process. i'll let you guys know how it works.


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## D3c0Y (Oct 23, 2007)

Any updates on this?

I'm planing to screen print on my motorcycle jacket and two piece suit.


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## Piscopink (Sep 21, 2007)

Wow, I really have to become an expert on this fast. A game company really liked the pin-up style art we are using for a shirt, and now want it printed on the back of a leather (or fake leather) bomber jacket.

Anyone print a CMYK image on leather?


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## Piscopink (Sep 21, 2007)

D3c0Y said:


> Any updates on this?
> 
> I'm planing to screen print on my motorcycle jacket and two piece suit.


I'm really interested how this comes out, and what you decide to do...


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Many years ago I screenprinted leather cases, if I'm remembering correctly we used a sign ink and a medium-high mesh count. The ink basically sits on the surface and leather is smooth so it's more like sign printing than textile printing. I remember it mostly because it was a pain in the butt and the first ones were bad because we put too much ink down.


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## danot (Dec 13, 2008)

Does anyone have an image of this that they can post? Thanks. Interested.


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## robman (Dec 18, 2008)

You're probably going to want to use an airdry ink of some sort. You may want to call NazDar SourceOne -- they manufacture inks for all types of applications.


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## manicprints (May 27, 2009)

If you pull off cmyk on leather (vinyl) I gotta see it, but I wonder if you might be better off doing the image in index. The process is alot more forgiving and consistant especially if you have a couple extra heads to spare for extra colors.


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