Cotton pills when aribrushed

C

Clif

Guest
New to air bushing but have been "playing" for several weeks. I have tried Liquitex, Golden, and other brands of soft body acrylic with airbrush medium. I also tried various brands of air brush acrylic paints.
Problem: When I fill an area on white cotton, muslin, broad cloth, and so on the surface becomes pilled and anything but smooth. I am trying to airbrush fabric for quilted wall hangings. I don't know what to do. I can't find anything on the subject but I can't be the only one. I wash the fabric to get rid of any additives and do not use any softener or detergent with softener or perfume.
Is there a treatment that is required to avoid the pilling. I am not using cheap fabric at $7.99 a yard. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,
Clif
 
Welcom Clif,

What people do is spray some transparent base down, iron it to flatten all the fluff and then paint over that.
 
Hi Clif, don't know about fabrics, others will help. Can I get you to go along to the introductions page and let us know who you are and where you live, what you paint, what you use... helps us answer questions... look forward to hearing more from you.
 
Clif
First this is in no way a step by step so it has been moved to the newbie question area .
Second Please go make an introduction post. You will find that area here : http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/
100% cotton will pill , That is what cotton does when it is not pressed . that is why most t-shirt artist use a 50/50 blend . While Cotton will hold the paint it is not the best thing to paint Plus if it is just going to be wall art never wash it . washing allows the weave to become loose and pill as you call it.
It is wall art which means it will not be wore so there is no need to wash it . Sizing is mainly only used once an item has been turned into clothes which is why T-shirt artist wash them to release the sizing agent .
Standard Createx it is 100% Textile paint .
But without know more like where you live on this planet, what airbrushes you are using , what air pressure you are spraying at it is hard to offer more help.
 
You can also oversaturate shirts which will cause more issues. But no doubt it will pile. If you transparent base and then press it will become very minimal.
 
Mr.Micron said:
Clif
First this is in no way a step by step so it has been moved to the newbie question area .
Second Please go make an introduction post. You will find that area here : http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/
100% cotton will pill , That is what cotton does when it is not pressed . that is why most t-shirt artist use a 50/50 blend . While Cotton will hold the paint it is not the best thing to paint Plus if it is just going to be wall art never wash it . washing allows the weave to become loose and pill as you call it.
It is wall art which means it will not be wore so there is no need to wash it . Sizing is mainly only used once an item has been turned into clothes which is why T-shirt artist wash them to release the sizing agent .
Standard Createx it is 100% Textile paint .
But without know more like where you live on this planet, what airbrushes you are using , what air pressure you are spraying at it is hard to offer more help.
Click to expand...
 
I appreciate your reply. Sorry I posted in the wrong area. I must admit I was somewhat frustrated, actually very frustrated by the time I found this site. I spent hours trying to find any help on the net. I am really glad I found this forum. As a rule I rarely ask any question unless I have exhausted all attempts or possible solutions for any problems I may be having. I did complete the intro as you suggested and would be happy to add anything you or anyone might want.

Again thank you for your reply, Clif
 
Welcome from Texas Clif! I think they would prefer you posted your introduction also as a post so people can say hi and welcome! I think it interesting that you like in a geodesic dome:)
 
Thank you for your reply. I did as you suggested. I tried Golden's GAC 900, liquitax pouring medium, starch, Krylon Workable Fixative, but stopped short of just lighting a match. The Krylon workable fixatif seem to work best. After doing that most of the day I started thinking. The first job I had after college was designing the men's knit shirt line at VanHeusen. At the time the knit shirts were not made at Van Heusan's own mills. They were all contracted to various mills in the North East, South, and Israel. Some of the other shirting companies that used the same mills we did were printing on cotton blends not 100% cotton. I think tomorrow I might try various cotton blends as Herb suggested. I may also try airbrushing fabric dye instead of paint. The transparent base may work better on the blends.

Clif
 
Cliff, I think you might want to airbrush on something that is a bit more like cotton. The sizing in pillow cases and sheets is a big drawback. I hope I'm on the same page also, but it's like a water proofing substance or something like that. Never did like to paint those. Even after washed.
 
Mr.Micron said:
Clif
First this is in no way a step by step so it has been moved to the newbie question area .
Second Please go make an introduction post. You will find that area here : http://www.airbrushforum.org/introductions/
100% cotton will pill , That is what cotton does when it is not pressed . that is why most t-shirt artist use a 50/50 blend . While Cotton will hold the paint it is not the best thing to paint Plus if it is just going to be wall art never wash it . washing allows the weave to become loose and pill as you call it.
It is wall art which means it will not be wore so there is no need to wash it . Sizing is mainly only used once an item has been turned into clothes which is why T-shirt artist wash them to release the sizing agent .
Standard Createx it is 100% Textile paint .
But without know more like where you live on this planet, what airbrushes you are using , what air pressure you are spraying at it is hard to offer more help.
Click to expand...
 
if you spray Gac 900 on the fabric first and let it air dry some, and then iron the surface,,use a waxpaper or parchment paper between the texil and iron (set on cotton)
, it will help flatten the naps,, then you can start painting,, I use to iron the textile once in a while when painting too,
I airbrush on 100% cotton t-shirts,
 
I use screen printing ink and make my own paint concoction up for textiles..Its gloopy so add a decent few spoonfuls, mix it down with water until you get a milky consistency, strain the crap out of it, add some jo soja's flow medium as per directions on bottle, strain again, place in a sauce bottle with a marble to agitate and walla...For me I found purchased paints tend to sit more on the textile rather than into the textile..Why i moved over to more ink based for textiles rather than paint based..May still pill on some fabrics pending on the weave but generally with fabric painting there is an easy equation to remember...The higher the cost of the fabric...The better it will paint., eg try some top brand art vellum or some expensive silk and you will likely see a big difference in cheaper materials and weaves..Also dble check the thread count of the material used, higher the thread count generally the better the weave and finer the strand..Good luck...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Bangs head in frustration
Replies
14
Views
1K
musicmacd
musicmacd
Back
Top