narnianquilter

I do a lot of photo quilts and I am looking for a cost effective way to get printable fabric- the one I found this morning advertises a yard of fabric that is pretreated for printing photos, and at a great price. It would take a little more work applying the freezer paper and what not but totally worth it to me...provided it's a good quality image. Has anyone used this particular product before, or know of something better? Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/White-Pre-Trea...hu-rd_add_1_dp

gramajo

From the description in Amazon, it sounds as though it should be treated with Bubble Jet after printing to make it more permanent. That would be an additional expense.
I have not used this, so don't know how it would work. I use "Printed Treasures" for my photo quilts. It's more espensive but holds the color well after several washings.

narnianquilter

That's generally what I use too, but some of the quilts people are asking for require something bigger than the 8 1/2x 11 sheets. That and I can only get one 6x6 pic out of those sheets- then I end up wasting a good portion of material. Even with the Bubble Jet, I would still be saving in the long run- provided it's a good product.

ckcowl

to (pre-treat) fabric for dyeing or printing all you have to do is...
pre-wash with detergent---to remove any sizing, oils, soil that may be in the fabric that keeps it from taking the dye or ink. do not use fabric softener.
then- you can either use bubble jet set (follow the instructions) or soda ash---i use soda ash since i dye alot of fabric so always have it on hand-
soak the fabric in the soda ash solution-then hang to dry. press your fusable (i use freezer paper to run my fabric through the printer) to the back side and print your pictures as usual- then allowing the ink time to dry/cure -use a press cloth & heat set. i often heat set a few times- allowing it to cool between (but that's just me being---cautious) then before using in a quilt i run cool water through my pictures to rinse out any excess dye/ink.
when you see (prepared for dying/printing) often it is simply pre-washed with no other treatment done to it.

narnianquilter

So in theory I could just use a piece of muslin, with these instructions? How well does the color hold in the pics when you have done it?

Kat Sews

I prepare the same as ckcowl and use a good quality fabric. In case you don't know where to find soda ash, it is commonly sold as WASHING soda, and no it is not the same thing as baking soda. You would be surprised how many times I have had to answer this question.

Charming

It sounds like a really good deal to me even when purchasing the bubble rinse though when reading the description of the fabric it says "A final rinse with Bubble Rinse is also recommended, though not required to help set images" so using the bubble rinse is your own decision.

mannem

I have used BubbleJet and have had good results and would like to use the locally available washing soda. How much of the stuff should I use in 2 gallons of cold/hot water? Thanks

sewmom

I ordered mt Bubble Rinse from Walmart.com for just under $10. And i use 200 count white muslin and Bubble Jet Set. Haven't done a lot of pictures, mostly labels.