When printing directly on fabric

[sparklinglove]

even those iron on fabric sheets, how well does the  ink stay?

HOw do you know it will last thru a washing? are there special instructions for washing with puter ink?

this is for my bags~! so they won't get washed TONS

[swift]

There is a fixative you can get called Jet Set 2000. You soak the fabric in the liquid before hand, let it dry, then you can print on it. I've used it tons of times and it doesn't run at all. I've even tried scrubbing the fabric with a nail brush and soap and it stayed! (In case you're curious why I did this -- the fabric got trapped in the printer and when I pulled it out the picture was fine, but it had black marks on it. I tried to remove the marks but they wouldn't budge!)

If you have a printer like an Epson with Durabrite, waterproof inks, you can forego the soaking in this stuff (I've tried this too, as I have an Epson printer.)

I'm not sure about the fabric sheets you can buy for the computer, but I imagine they would be treated with the setting stuff or why would you buy it? You could just use regular fabric! If you want to do quite a few sheets, I would suggest going with the Jet Set stuff. It's not that expensive -- I bought mine for about $25 Cdn or so -- and I've done easily 50 sheets of fabric and have at least half a bottle left. But if you're just doing a few sheets -- say 10 or less (which, I think, is about 2 packages of the stuff from the store) -- then it might be worth buying the sheets.

As a final note - like this message isn't long enough -- if you are running fabric through your printer, make sure you tape at the bottom (where you are feeding the fabric through) and top to a piece of cardstock. The fabric isn't heavy enough for your printer, and it will get caught in the rollers. This will keep it standing straight and will make it heavy enough to feed. Just my two cents...

[gingerquilts]

You can also iron the fabric to freezer paper and then cut it to size before running it through the printer.

I have used the fabric sheets that you buy with great success. I really like the ones that are fabric but you can print and then iron them on.  I use those for ATC's. I think if you heat set the inks with an iron after printing they work well.

I have a friend that uses the brand Printed Treasures in her quilts.  She likes them much better than the ones you get at JoAnn's or Walmart.  You can buy them at quiltshops.

I bought a bottle of Bubblejet  but haven't tried it yet.

[swift]

Okay, I must be tired because I zoned on the freezer paper. I actually iron the fabric to the freezer paper, then tape it to the card stock because it's still really floppy. My Epson doesn't like just the freezer paper alone! I need the thickness of the card stock and tape to make the printer like it!

[gingerquilts]

Okay, I must be tired because I zoned on the freezer paper. I actually iron the fabric to the freezer paper, then tape it to the card stock because it's still really floppy. My Epson doesn't like just the freezer paper alone! I need the thickness of the card stock and tape to make the printer like it!

I never tried that.  I bet you could use two thickness of freezer paper.  Iron the shiny side to the paper side and then the shiny side to the fabric.  I do that for quilt templates, it might work for this, too!

[sparklinglove]

does the paper iron on or do i need an adhesive?

[swift]

The freezer paper is wax on one side. Iron that to the back of your fabric. It will stick, but not so much that you can't remove it when you're done!

[dmerk]

There's a great tutorial by "queenofdiy" on making your own Bubble Jet Set really cheap..

 http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=129537.0

[pibbgirl]

I've used spray adhesive to stick fabric to regular computer paper before because I think freezer paper is a little too floppy for my printer.