World Wide Quilting Page

Question of the Week

Question for the week of January 18, 1999:

Our question this week comes from Lilo Wesely

What is the best printer for printing on fabric? Is the print waterproof?

Liz Armstrong :
i have researched this for over a year and it appears most of the new printers will take fabric, but the colored inks will not reamain permanent if the fabric is washed. You can use the Canon fabric and print with a Canon printer which has the best longevity. But HPs. Epson and Lexmarks printing colors all fade with washing. Black is a different story. Sorry. I will be looking here for the answer....

Lyn Cross :
I purchase the fabric "pages" (8-1/2 X 11) designed to use in the printer. It's fabric that comes in white or off-white and has a backing that you peel off after you have printed the page on your printer. I used it to make name tags on a personal laser printer and it was great. I am actually in the process of looking up the name of the product, but I ordered it through my quilt shop.

VICKI MCCORMICK :
DEAR LILO,
I HAVE A HP DESKJET 682C. THE BLACK INK WORKS GREAT WHEN HEAT SET. I COLOR INK WASHES OUT EVERY TIME. MY DAD SAID A LAZER PRINTER WOULD BE GOOD BUT ONLY PRINTS IN BLACK.

Val Shewell :
I just printed quilt my label on fabric ironed onto freezer paper. It worked great! I have an HP Deskjet 722C. I pressed the fabric onto an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet, the cut my label out the size I wanted.

Cathi :
I use an old Canon Bubble-jet printer to print my labels that I sew on to my quilts. I press my fabric to the shiny side of freezer paper, which has been cut to 8.5"x11". I then send this through my printer. After printing I press again with a dry iron to heat set the ink, then I remove the freezer paper. My labels always include washing instructions...Machine wash, cold, gentle cycle, line dry or tumble dry on low. I hope this helps.

Marine Sallee :
I used a Hewlett Packard 850C and a Office Jet Pro 1170cxi. I ironed the fabric to freezer paper and had no problems. I tested one of the pictures by washing it in hot water and it did not wash out.

Natasha Bianchi :
I have been lead to beleive that there is
only one printer, IBM'S LEXMARK which
can be used for printing on fabric. To
my knowledge they are the only printer
that uses waterproof cartridges. I
have seen this information on the net
on different occasions.

Jane :
I have had good luck with a dot matrix printer with black ink. The trick is to heat set it after you've printed to set the ink. I have also heard that a bubble jet/inkjet works well again as long as you heat set it. I don't know about coloured inks.

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