T shirt airbrushing

[Digitalfreak]

Hi guys quick question.
Could i use just normal water based acrylic to brush on t shirts?

Am i practicing the wrong techniques by practicing normal air brush skills by that i mean, t shirt air brushing seems like a completly different style of skill compared to airbrushing a picture on paper.

 

[matty171]

yes i have used the medea textile paints on T's, you have to prep the tshirt correctly. if you search the forum here you will see a few posts on tshirts [emoji1303]


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[Malky]

Hi guys quick question.
Could i use just normal water based acrylic to brush on t shirts?

Am i practicing the wrong techniques by practicing normal air brush skills by that i mean, t shirt air brushing seems like a completly different style of skill compared to airbrushing a picture on paper.

If you plan on doing T-shirts the biggest drawback is that a lot of techniques we use on paper/board/ such as scratching and erasing cant be used, so you really have to rely on your skills with lines, dots, daggers and blends, so the practice you mentioned is essential to get your muscle memory up to speed, precision with your strokes will be the key, it can be easy enough to put a line or dot precisely where you want or close to not matter but trying to hit the same line twice is a bugger unless you are really really good, if T-shirts and shoes are your main goals it would be a good idea to practice on old one if you can get them.

@Airbrush Dreams I believe has quite a bit of experience with excrements and probably give many pointers, but as far using ordinary acrylics I don't see a problem as long the nozzle is big enough but I know that golden make a medium which have been using as transparent medium which you can mix ordinary acrylics to make them suitable for airbrushing and indeed fabrics, as long as your ordinary acrylics are not blocking your brush you can use them as they for practice purposes, but if you plan to sell shirts in the future you have to use recognized materials to ensure your designs will last long enough so that the don't fade out in first wash or two.

As Matty said there is quite a bit of information here already so if you need anything in real hurry you can use the search function (almost) top right and type in keywords and obviously keep asking questions

 

[Airbrush Dreams]

Medea textile paint is a discontinued line. I find at the moment Etac Privet Stock and Wicked Colors are your best brands. I prefer PS because of less tip dry and clogging. A .5mm needle are the best choice for covering large areas and the Eclipse CS or a HP-C for details.

If you are looking for lettering technique take a look at Kent Lind. He is the top for teaching Controll and proper lettering. Dagger strokes and line control are key for the tourists t-shirt business and if you're looking to mainly do portrait and illustration than color and dagger strokes are essential.

As for t-shirts themselves I prefer 100% cotton, heavy weight. Paint with higher pressure to saturate the fabrics some use as high as 80psi then heat set at 350 degrees for 30 seconds with a good heat press. If one isn't available turn the shirt inside out and heat set with a clothing iron slowly at the highest setting. Don't stay in one spot more than a few seconds or the paint will scorch. Don't use the steam feature at all. Wash inside out in delicate cold cycle.

You can also spray Pol E Tac on the fabric first and give a good press at first to lock down the nap of the shirt to keep the overspray from making the shirt look dirty. Then Top coat at the end before final heat setting to create a clear protective layer.


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[Airbrush Dreams]

there are some samples of my t-shirts.


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[jord001]

We've been using Spectra-Tex paint on t-shirts for a while. So far it hes held up well to washing and fading. It has to be heat set for 3 mins but sprays well through a 0.2 Iwata HP-B+

I brought some Golden Gac 900 Acrylic Medium on the recommendation of a few of the members to use as a base coat, heat set with an iron or heat press and you have a nice flat surface that doesn't soak up the paint. Only just got it so have not used it yet.

Lee

 

[Airbrush Dreams]

Never used spectra-Tex but I have had one opportunity to spray some from a friend. It flowed okay and only tip dried a little. I wouldn't over saturate with the Gac. Just mist it and press down the fibers in one direction the heat press it. On dark fabric you can build a little more and then lay a layer of opaque white and then color. Unless your spraying all opaque. Gac 900, Pol-E-Tac and Aqua Flow Top Binder are all the same type product. All the purpose of laying down a layer of binder is to stick the loose nap down so it doesn't catch the overspray and make you design muddy. Post a picture or two of the shirt then and now to see how much fading actually occurred. I am interested. I have had shirts that hardly faded after a lot of washing and others that faded a lot. I think it may be caused by putting too much top binder first.


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