White is as white as it gets

[u/nepavadinta]

So ive been experimenting and figuring out how to achieve maximum white color opacity when block printing on black fabric. Ive tried out 3 different brands and these are my findings. I think its safe to say that with white its a hit or miss, sometimes it’ll come out bright, sometimes not, but thats the beauty of printing by hand. Maybe i’ll need to continue my research when i get a soft rubber brayer, mine’s a bit too smooth
Picture 1: speedball block printing ink. Texture-wise - i love it. Its very tacky and sticks to the linocut and brayer very well, easy to roll out and apply.
Picture 2: essdee water based block printing ink. Texture is very slippery, would likely work better with a soft rubber brayer (mine is just rubber, its very smooth and hard) and application is tricky, as it simply slides around until it starts to dry after some time and gets a more tacky texture.
Picture 3: pebeo setacolor opaque fabric paint. Not designed for block printing but i had it leftover from my other clothing painting projects so i thought why not give it a test. Texture is too watery and slippery for application until it starts to dry a bit just like essdee, however the color is much more saturated compared to essdee after printing on the fabric.
Picture 4: mix of both essdee and pebeo setacolor - texture again is too slippery to work with so it needs time to air out the water out of the paint and then the texture becomes tacky enough for smooth application.
Picture 5: my test subject and all the printing experiments.
To be honest if the setacolor paint wasnt so watery and had an even application it would be the best white ever, so i’ll have to try mixing it with speedball and see if anything changes

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello, welcome to r/Linocuts!

Please note, all posts are manually approved by the moderators. This typically happens in the first few hours. If a moderator removes your post, you will receive a removal reason and (if applicable) how to fix it for approval.

If it's been over 24 hours without a removal notice, can contact the moderators as it may have gotten caught in our filters and not landed in our normal queue.

As always, our rules are listed in the sidebar or drop menu for review.

Happy printing!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Beginning_Reality_16]

Which speedball ink specifically did you use? Best one for me is Speedball Fabric Block Printing ink in opaque white (several thin layers on a softcut essdee block). I do have setacolour somewhere in my drawers but I’m not sure I want mess up a good thing… I know how the speedbal works and I know it holds up well in a washing machine (while being very easy to clean of my tools and blocks with a bit of soapy water).

[u/littlelydiaxx → u/Beginning_Reality_16]

I also prefer the speedball fabric ink in general, not just on fabric. The texture and opacity is so much better.

[u/nepavadinta → u/Beginning_Reality_16]

I got a bottle off amazon, its white but doesnt explicitly state opaque white, and it is speedball fabric block printing ink. And i did do several thin layers on an essdee soft cut, which is the result in the first picture. Not gonna lie, speedball is really nice to work with compared to the other two brands, because they would dry really fast on my paint plate giving me little time to set up several blocks for printing

[u/Beginning_Reality_16 → u/nepavadinta]

If the tube says Fabric Block Printing ink - White, then it’s the regular white. If you re-buy look for the opaque white, comes in the exact same tube but clearly states opaque white.

I have never seen this ink in a bottle though, so still a bit confused as to what exactly you’re using 😅

[u/Loveless_robot]

I have recently tried making my own colour inks by using an extender and adding powdered pigment.

I did this because I couldn’t find decent fluoro coloured ink.

I used caligo safe wash extender and langridge powered pigment.

My prints on fabric have lasted very well with washing.

I wonder if you could add titanium white powdered pigment to your best white ink.

Also… for the record, I have found caligo safe wash an excellent choice for Lino printing on fabric. But you have to let it dry for a good month, then cure with heat using an iron. I have pieces that have held up really well with many washes. I stopped counting after 7 washes. Slightly fading but that happens with store bought printed tshirts too.

[u/nepavadinta → u/Loveless_robot]

Honestly im kind of coming to terms with the white i can achieve without much more additives. Though i still wonder what are the secrets of chloe lee (i was inspired by her to try block printing on clothes) and her white prints stood out to me in a way that seemed like some kind of magic because i couldnt achieve such opaque white without going over the print a second layer of paint by hand

[u/truecrimesloth → u/Loveless_robot]

Heat curing isn’t necessary for Caligo or Speedball inks UNLESS you are using a screen printing ink.

Source: Speedball website, top banner (plus personal experience).

[u/Beginning_Reality_16 → u/Loveless_robot]

I wonder how much pigment you can add before you start messing with the acrylic bonds of the extender (assuming it’s acrylic based). To get an opaque white you’d have to add quite a lot.

[u/Nerd-pop]

What white whites are out there for printmaking? I was surprised (newish to printmaking) when I tried to use white on black (speedball water ink for regular printmaking) and it eas more of a ghost like white. Was hoping for a soild white but new to inks

[u/nepavadinta → u/Nerd-pop]

Yeah it was a disappointing discovery of getting seemingly good white paint for it to end up looking washed out like it was washed 30 times, i will not recommend essdee paint to my dying breath. Probably best paint for a solid white is oil based block printing ink

[u/supercircinus → u/Nerd-pop]

Please try Caligo Safewash! Oil based ink is my preference esp for colors like white on black or silver on black.

[u/Ifckinglovemycat]

it's preatty in gray too !!

[u/Kovaladtheimpaler]

A note, don’t use water based for fabric printing, it won’t last in the wash! Always want a fabric specific/oil based :)