How to Make Vitrifying Ink Transfers for Clay

Clean the ink off the screen thoroughly each time you make a transfer, and you can use the screen to print transfers again and again.

Making transfers for clay requires printing your design onto transfer paper, in vitrifying ink, using basic silk-screen printing techniques. Vitrifying ink turns to glass in the kiln, which creates a glaze over fired clay or ceramics. Although it’s specialty ink meant specifically for use on fired clay, it can be used on conventional transfer paper. Once the transfer is on the clay, it must dry and be fired in order to vitrify – once it has, it’s an indelible part of the clay piece.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Printer or pen
• Embroidery hoop
• Sheer, tightly woven material, 1 yard
• Pencil
• Brush, 2
• Non-soluble glue
• Vitrifying ink
• Transfer paper

Instructions

1. Print or draw your design onto a piece of paper. Make sure the design has strong contrasts, and is smaller than the embroidery hoop.

2. Put the material in the embroidery hoop. Stretch the material so it’s taut and unwrinkled. Tighten the hoop around the material again, to make sure the cloth is secure. Lay the paper with the design on the workspace, and lay the embroidery hoop over it, material-side down.

3. Trace the design onto the material with the pencil. Flip the embroidery hoop over, so it’s material-side up.

4. Flip the embroidery hoop over, so it’s material-side up. Paint glue onto the material, in all of the design’s negative space.

5. Flip the embroidery hoop over, so it’s material-side down. Place it on top of the transfer paper. Brush the vitrifying ink onto the design, using a poking, stippling motion. Stop when the design is completely covered in ink, but the ink isn’t yet starting to clump or glop.

6. Peel the embroidery hoop away from the transfer paper. Allow the transfer paper to dry.

References

• Craftgrrl: Cheap Screen Printing Tutorial
• Skinny La Minx: Ceramics Transfers Tutorial