The fabric paint is a very useful tool to customize clothing, bags, sheets and many more thing if you are interested in doing so. Many fabric paints work only on single fabric. You can customise it by different types of fabric, colour etc. You would need certain materials to make your own fabric paint. They are acrylic paint, acrylic medium or liquitex medium, a container with tight lid, fabric for testing, iron or ironing board, and foam brush. The basic difference between general fabric paint and acrylic paint is acrylic paint is thicker and can cause paint flaking and stiffness to the paint. You can however make it thinner by using water isopropyl alcohol, but this will seep into the fabric instead of remaining outside of the fabric. Contact the Big Acrylic for further professional assistance towards making your own fabric paint.
The best way to prepare the perfect and thin acrylic paint is to use the acrylic medium. However, using a transparent liquitex gloss medium for thinning the paint can also serve the purpose. If you choose the transparent liquitex gloss medium use the opaque gloss or matter medium. You need to mix equal amount of acrylic paint and the medium for an appropriate thickness without making it thinner than needed.
You need to next test the thickness of your paint based on the fabric. Different fabric shows different results to the thinness or thickness of the paint. If your paint soaksthrough the fabric, consider more acrylic paint because it has become thinner than required. On the other hand, if the paint dries to further stiffness, consider putting some more medium because it is still thicker. Remember, the painted fabric after heat-setting and washing become softer.
The nest step of making your own fabric paint is heat-setting your paint. Heat-set your fabric once the paint is completely dried. You can heat-set it by ironing it on a medium temperature for around four to five minutes but do not use steam. Once you have heat-set the fabric, wash it using the same detergent you have planned to use for painted fabrics. You can either give it to the laundry, but it is good if you wash it yourself.You can then dry the fabric after washing it if you are washing it yourself. Tumble-drying instead of hanging to dry is better in terms of softening the paint and feel more comfortable. If everything you did feels better and you find your fabric soft and comfortable, you are done with making your own fabric paint.
