Which Inks should I use?
Cranfield’s caligo safe wash inks are brilliant for printing onto fabric as they already have some driers added. If you need to speed up drying times don’t be afraid to add in a drop of cobalt drier or magnesium powder into the ink.
Can I wash the fabric and is it permanent?
Caligo safe wash inks are designed so that while wet they will wash out with soap and water and without the need for use of toxic solvents. Once dry the inks hold a good level of resistance to handling and washing. We can’t guarantee that all fabric prints will be fully water resistant and 100% fast on all textiles and situations, however we have seen some lovely print and wash results.
How should I prepare my fabric?
Most printmakers will wash their fabrics before printing this will eliminate and shrinkage and wash away any unwanted chemicals from the manufacturing process. The higher the weave and texture in the fabric the more pressure you will need to reach that solid ink coverage.
Drying and washing
Drying your fabric can take several days, we recommend drying your fabric in a warm dry space with moving air. One you believe to be dry we recommend doing a rub test to see if any of the ink is removed when rubbed. If no ink is removed your ink is dry and therefore ready to set.
To set your ink we recommend placing a sheet of baking paper over your print and then using a hot iron with no steam to seal with heat. However, do not glide the iron like you usually would hold the iron in areas of the prints for five second intervals this will allow the heat to fix the ink to the fabric.
To wash your print, we recommend washing on a two hour was at 40 degrees or alternatively washing by hand. However please do bear in mind every fabric is different and wash times and temperatures may vary. We always recommend doing a patch test where possible.
We cant wait to see what you all produce! 🙂
Thank you for reading!
Happy Printmaking!
All the best,
Ellie & The Team!
Tag us using the Hashtags…
@Ironbridgeprintmakers @Gunningetchingpress #GunningEtchingPresses #GunningEtchingPress #JennyGunningPrintmaker
If you have read to the bottom of this blog you are entitled to a free gift, please email Jenny@IronbridgefineArts.co.uk with your preferred printing Relief or Intaglio to claim. Postage of £6.99 will still apply.
A traditional oil based ink perfect for printing onto raised surfaces such as your lino’s and woodblocks.
Relief printing is perhaps the broadest type of printmaking and has recently seen a resurgence of interest. It uses plates made from a variety of materials such as lino, wood, card, metal and cloth.
A popular and reliable formulation – provides vibrant, light fast prints from all types of relief plates
As well as highly pigmented formulations, Cranfield traditional relief inks also benefit from a careful mix of traditional linseed oils. These are chosen and blended to provide a viscosity and structure to the ink – along with that unique linseed smell. This keeps the relief print as fresh and bright as the day it was created.
A safe wash based ink perfect for printing onto raised surfaces such as your lino’s and woodblocks.
Relief printing is perhaps the broadest type of printmaking and has recently seen a resurgence of interest. It uses plates made from a variety of materials such as lino, wood, card, metal and cloth.
We have a wide range of safe wash relief inks which allow for non toxic printing methods and a solvent free way of cleaning. Our safe wash inks are oil based however are water soluble so they can be easily cleaned with liquid soap and water.
Caligo Safe Wash Relief inks are suitable for both damped and dry paper and deliver strong crisp results.
Beautiful pigments, finely ground into the purest oil for archival results.
A traditional oil based ink perfect for pushing into intaglio plates such as dry-points, etchings and photo polymere’s.
A consistently reliable formulation – provides rich prints from all types of Intaglio plates.
As well as highly pigmented formulations, Cranfield traditional etching inks also benefit from a careful mix of traditional linseed oils. These are chosen and blended to provide a viscosity and structure to the ink – along with that unique linseed smell. This keeps the etching as fresh and bright as the day it was created
A safe wash based ink perfect for pushing into intaglio plates such as dry-points, etchings and photo polymere’s.
We have a wide range of safe wash etching inks which allow for non toxic printing methods and a solvent free way of cleaning. Our safe wash inks are oil based however are water soluble so they can be easily cleaned with liquid soap and water.
Beautiful pigments, finely ground into the purest oil for archival results.
The majority of our ink comes in 75ml tubes, these small easy tubes make it easy and fast to dispence ink with storing it in an easy way which prevents ink drying out. These sized inks are perfect for a printmaker wanting to sample a new colour or for someone or for someone just starting out.
Some of our key colours such as your magenta, black and white are available in 300 gram tubes. These tubes are placed into a seleant/caulking guns to dispense the ink with ease and little mess caused. These tubes are fantastic for a busy printmaker they make for a clean print run with little ink waste.
We stock silver, gold and copper in our traditional relief range. These colours allow for a beautiful metallic print with shimmering qualities showing through from the beautiful pigmented ink.
Extenders are stocked in all ranges and are simply like any other ink except include no pigment so that they are completely transparent and offer the ability to mix with other inks creating transparency with in colour.
A specialist washable oil that you can add to your Safe Wash Inks when you need to thin and dilute your ink. It makes your inks thinner, reduces viscosity, increases flow and increases transparency.
This oil modifier is made with the same linseed oil medium we use to make the safe wash inks. It is therefore an ‘oily’ rather than ‘inky’ modifier. If you need to increase transparency but maintain the body of you ink use Caligo Safe Wash Extender.
Caligo Safe Wash Oil is Ideal for Monoprinting and Carborundum printing when you need to thin and dilute your inks
Also suitablle for Viscosity Printing applications when you need to reduce viscosity and increase the flow of your inks.
Thank you for reading!
Happy Printmaking!
All the best,
Ellie & The Team!
Tag us using the Hashtags…
@Ironbridgeprintmakers @Gunningetchingpress #GunningEtchingPresses #GunningEtchingPress #JennyGunningPrintmaker
If you have read to the bottom of this blog you are entitled to a free gift, please email Jenny@IronbridgefineArts.co.uk with your preferred printing Relief or Intaglio to claim. Postage of £6.99 will still apply.
Jenny Gunning Photogravure The Ironbridge
£ 40.00
Hungry Hedgehog Reduction Linocut Print by Martin Truefitt-Baker - SOLD
£ 180.00 – £ 285.00
Etching Printing Press No. 2
by Gordon Yapp, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
Etching Printing Press No.1
by Fiona Thomson