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Materials Needed
- A T-Shirt, preferably cotton, the closer the weave the better (although I
received excellent results from run of the mill t-shirts)
- Mineral Turpentine (standard "turps", a paint thinner for
oil-based paint)
- A Laser Printer (an ink-jet will not work, you need the carbon powder
toner, not ordinary ink)
- A piece of hard flat cardboard to insert inside of the t-shirt. This will
ensure better transfer, as well as avoid the image transferring to both
layers of fabric.
- A Small Rag to rub with
- It would also be of great benefit to have a practice t-shirt, just to make
sure you got the technique right before dedicating a more valuable garment
right off.
Technique
Print out the image you want using your laser. Remember the image must be
backward (reversed), as you will flip it and use it face down. Be careful handling the
print-out, any of the black areas you touch tend not to transfer as well.
Spread the t-shirt on a hard flat surface (that can stand a little turps if
you get messy, I used the garage floor).
Insert your hard piece of cardboard between the layers of fabric. This
cardboard should be smooth, hard and at least the size of your image. Place the
absorbent side up if it has a shiny side.
Carefully place your printout where you want it on the t-shirt. Make sure
your t-shirt is flat and evenly spread. It would be best if you practiced this
on an old t-shirt before committing a new one.
Wet your rag with some turpentine. Don't be shy with it, I found it hard to
put too much on, but easy to have too little. Remember the paper, t-shirt and
cardboard are going to soak up the turpentine so it takes a bit.
With one hand hold the edge of the paper very firmly, remember if it moves
while you are rubbing the back then your going to get a double or misaligned
image. Hold the edges away from the black areas, as you do not want to try to
move your hand half-way through.
Now rub like crazy, but in a controlled manner. I found the best technique
was to press firmly and rub away from where I was gripping the paper (so the
paper did not kink). Make sure you get all the black areas evenly. If need be
renew the turpentine in your rag (use a bit of one-handed bottle flipping and
rag wetting, rather than releasing your hold on the paper).
Carefully lift up your paper, and avoid smearing the still wet image. Admire
your handy-work with a big grin.
Hang the t-shirt up to dry, it only takes an hour or two I found. Once the
turpentine has completely evaporated out of the fabric, just put the t-shirt through the
wash to remove any odour.
Wear t-shirt to impress not only yourself, but your friends too!
I have washed my t-shirts (photographed above) many times since using this
method to create them, with little or no reduction (I can detect none) in the
quality of the image transferred. When originally transferred the images were
slightly uneven in tone on the cotton shirts shown (which I bought new solely
for this purpose), but the effect was pleasing to the eye, and suited the
slightly marled tone of the t-shirts. I have also done a number of white
t-shirts, where the images came out pitch black and completely even in tone,
with slightly better detail. The difference being due to the nature of the
fabric, with the white t-shirts being much thinner (the t-shirt shown are
actually very think cotton), finer in weave and seemed just more
"cottony". I personally liked the slightly more uneven transfer which
occurred on the t-shirts shown.
I have included below the two images shown above for your download! These
images are high resolution, to enable you to print them out at whatever
size you want. The images have already been flipped in the downloaded version for easy transfer.
@ Sean Flanagan, 2004. All rights
reserved.
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