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How to Get Ink From a Printer to Be Permanent on Fabric

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With this easy project that can be done in about an hour, you can permanently transfer an image printed on your home printer to fabric, such as a t-shirt or jeans, to add a personal touch or show off your own designs.

Things You'll Need:

  • Smooth Fabric (Such As Clothing Or Blankets)
  • Printer
  • Iron
  • Iron-On Transfer Paper

Select the image you want to transfer to fabric. In your design program, flip the image before printing. Otherwise, the image will appear backwards on your fabric. Print the image onto the transfer paper.

Preheat your iron to the highest setting. On an ironing board or other flat, heat-resistant surface, lay a towel and smooth it with the iron. Lay the fabric over the towel and iron this as well. Place the iron-on transfer, print side down, where you want your design to be.

Applying firm pressure, iron the transfer onto the fabric. Do not use steam. Move the iron slowly from left to right. Check the manufacturer's directions to know how long you should iron the transfer.

Let the fabric and transfer cool completely before removing. To remove the paper, hold the fabric with one hand and grasp a corner of the paper with the other hand. Slowly peel off the transfer paper, watching to make sure the image transfers smoothly. If the image starts to tear, put the transfer paper back and repeat step 3.

Tip

-Wash clothing inside out to preserve the transferred image. -Purchase a transfer paper that is designed to work with your fabric. For example, some transfers are designed to stretch with knit fabric and some are designed to cover a dark surface.

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