airbrushing a denim jacket.

[shanek864]

hey everyone .i would like any advice on airbrushing a denim jacket. i have never airbrushed clothes before . i am using wicked detail water based colors and using a iwata eclipse and iwata sbs .i have airbrushed on metal , and clay board but never clothes. i would appriciate any advice

 

[eenasha]

hey everyone .i would like any advice on airbrushing a denim jacket. i have never airbrushed clothes before . i am using wicked detail water based colors and using a iwata eclipse and iwata sbs .i have airbrushed on metal , and clay board but never clothes. i would appriciate any advice

I don't have much advise but make sure you wash and iron it before you get started.

 

[RandyHortonJr]

Make sure you get good saturation but don't over saturate as it will sponge up the paint a bit, and heat set it good. If you're using transparent paints you'll have to put down a white base coat of your image to get the most out of your colors. Even some of the opaques need a base coat to be best color. Heat set after applying the base to keep it from soaking up the pigment from the colors, and it will take less paint to get it completed. You can also use a heatgun or hair dryer in conjunction with applying your colors to get a brighter overall coverage. Obviously you have to deal with more tip dry but it makes a difference in the brightness of the colors and amount of paint needed to achieve the finish.

 

[shanek864]

thanks for the advice .i really appriciate it

 

[airbrushtutor]

Hey Shane - one important factor when using wicked for clothes is to use their sealer. You should wash the jacket first and make sure there's minimal loose lint - then apply two thick even coats of the sealer in the area you want to spray. Wait for this to dry, then iron the area well. Repeat this process twice or until you feel you have a good base to work with. Airbrush your image, iron it once again - then show it off

 

[JTairbrush]

Here's a denim jacket that I painted recently for a child. I really had no problems and no special prep. Just painted, heat set and done. All free hand.

 

[dave0301]

does the same process apply to leather coats?

 

[JTairbrush]

does the same process apply to leather coats?

No, you need some special prep for leather. You have to clean off all the oils on the surface of the leather first. SEM makes some good products for leather and vinyl prep and I think you can use alcohol as well to clean the leather.

 

[shanek864]

hey airbrushtutor do you happen to know what the name of that wicked sealer is . or is it just listed as sealer. thanks for the info

 

[RandyHortonJr]

Friend of mine does biker vests all the time. Wipe down with alcohol, sprays design(wicked), set it with heat gun and then hits with a light coat of clear to seal it in and "waterproof it". He's done a bunch of them with that process and they look/perform great.

Terry Hill suggested SEM products for the whole job. They make paint that is used in the aircraft industry. Chances are, if you've flown commercially, you've sat on SEM paints...

 

[RandyHortonJr]

He was referring to wicked transparent base...

 

[shanek864]

thanks for that .

 

[Lostcommander]

Hey Shane - one important factor when using wicked for clothes is to use their sealer. You should wash the jacket first and make sure there's minimal loose lint - then apply two thick even coats of the sealer in the area you want to spray. Wait for this to dry, then iron the area well. Repeat this process twice or until you feel you have a good base to work with. Airbrush your image, iron it once again - then show it off

I knew a guy who did t-shirts and after he did the steps above he then covered the whole image in transparent base and ironed that as well, he said it made it more durable especially for machine washing as the image was now not only heat set but also sealed

 

[EDGECRUSHER]

Interesting. I never realised the transparent base was used like that. And all this time I've been pulling my hair out looking for a local source for fixative and wasting tons of paint when it was sitting right on my shelf.

Tell me, do you use tracing or wax paper over the area when ironing? and how hot?

 

[RandyHortonJr]

I use a press, and teflon sheet. Not sure about ironing...and I think they use wax paper.

 

[zerrak1]

Interesting. I never realised the transparent base was used like that. And all this time I've been pulling my hair out looking for a local source for fixative and wasting tons of paint when it was sitting right on my shelf.

Tell me, do you use tracing or wax paper over the area when ironing? and how hot?

i'v read many time's that you should 1. lay tin foil in the middle of shirt,2. lay wax paper on top,3.iron as hot as it will go{like 260 degrees] and with no stem or spay, just hot iron..keep the iron moving DONT STOP THE MOVEMENT, rotate for about 6-8 mins..​

 

[Squishy]

Friend of mine does biker vests all the time. Wipe down with alcohol, sprays design(wicked), set it with heat gun and then hits with a light coat of clear to seal it in and "waterproof it". He's done a bunch of them with that process and they look/perform great

I'd wondered about a clear for leather, it's something I want to try and didn't know how to protect it. I just assumed a clearcoat would crack. May have to retire to the laboratory for experimentation.....

 

[RandyHortonJr]

I thought the same. He just puts a light dust coat over it. It gives it a bit of a sheen and it repels water... He said he'd been doing it for years.