Spraying Homemade Alcohol Ink onto Fabric

Polyester fabric remnants

I've been seeing a lot of Pins about making alcohol ink on Pinterest. I have several colors of Rit dye so I thought I'd try it with a twist. I didn't follow any actual recipes because I wanted to test the process for myself. I did run into a problem with the first spray bottle clogging up so I began mixing the ink and alcohol in a different bottle before transferring to a spray bottle.

I decided to test both polyester and cotton fabrics because alcohol ink should be permanent on both types of fabric. Both fabrics took the alcohol ink well but the colors were deeper and more intense on the cotton. I also tested paper towels and they looked awesome with the inks looking very bright.

I also decided to use white gesso on the fabrics because it acts like a resist when used with alcohol ink.

NOTE:
I ironed my fabrics once the alcohol ink was dry using a protective cloth behind and in front of the inked fabric. There was just the tiniest smudge of pink on one of the protective fabrics when I was done so I would recommend washing the fabrics if you're planning to use alcohol ink sprayed fabrics for anything other than craft use.

SUPPLIES

1. White Cotton Fabric remnant from my stash
2. Beige Polyester Fabric remnants from my stash
3. Viva Paper Towels
4. 91% alcohol from Walgreens
5. Clear 3 oz Spray bottles from the Dollar Store
6. Clear 3 oz bottles from the Dollar Store
7. Disposable (10 pack) filter masks from the Dollar Store
8. Disposable (100 pack) plastic gloves from the Dollar Store
9. Liquid Rit Dyes (from my local Joann Fabric and Craft store)
10. Reynolds Plastic Coated Freezer Paper from my local Walmart
11. White Gesso from dickblick.com
12. Hand-carved stamps (supplies from dickblick.com)
13. Paint brush
14. Paint Texture tool (used Martha Stewart)
15. Large flat piece of cardboard or drop cloth

ALCOHOL INK STEPS

1. Put on disposable plastic gloves (optional)
2. Shake the liquid Rit dye bottle thoroughly
3. Pour 1 oz Rit dye into a clear 3 oz bottle (not spray bottle)
4. Add 2 oz of 91% alcohol into the bottle
5. Shake thoroughly and allow to settle
6. Pour settled mixture into a 3oz spray bottle leaving sediment behind
7. Repeat steps for each color you want to mix.

FABRIC STEPS

1. Place fabric remnants on a large piece of freezer paper or other protective surface.
2. Stroke gesso in a thin layer on another sheet of freezer paper.
3. Press hand-carved or commercial stamps into gesso and then stamp onto the fabric.
4. Repeat the stamping until you're satisfied, adding more gesso to the freezer sheet as necessary.
5. Run texture tool through gesso and stroke onto fabric until satisfied.
6. Allow the gesso to fully dry on all fabric.

SPRAY STEPS

1. Go outside or move to a well-ventilated place where you can spray without damaging furniture or carpeting.
2. Place the freezer paper on the large piece of cardboard or drop cloth.
3. Put on a couple of disposable spray masks because you do not want to breathe in the sprayed alcohol. It will irritate your nose and lungs.
4. Spray the different colors of alcohol ink to your satisfaction. You should see the stamped gesso becoming visible as you do.
5. Allow the fabric and paper towels to air dry

SOME RESULTS

Alcohol Inked Viva Paper Towel

Polyester remnant

Polyester remnant with carved eraser stamp

Polyester remnant with carved block stamp

Cotton fabric with carved block stamp

Polyester with Martha Stewart texture tool

Cotton remnant with deeper, more intense colors