working with fabric paints

I was just asked about how to use acrylic paints on fabric and whether or not you can wash them.  Most standard acrylic paints need to have a fabric paint medium added to them.  The medium makes the paints softer when they’re dried and allow you to wash the paint without worrying about washing it out.

You can also go with fabric paints, which have the fabric medium already added.  Commercial fabric paints have the added benefit of stronger colors.  Fabric medium can dilute the pigment, especially if you’re using an inexpensive craft paint.  Both commercial & hand-mixed fabric paints must be allowed to dry completely overnight & then heat-set, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

I personally prefer to use Lumiere, Dy-Na-Flo & Neopague fabric paints and Golden fluid acrylics mixed with GAC 500, a fabric paint medium.   All the paints have different effects and it’s so much fun to play with them and see how they react with fabric.

Some fabric mediums do contain formaldyhdye, so follow manufacturer’s instructions for proper handling.

Here’s a painted piece of fabric I’m working with right now…

You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it turns out