Comparing Ink Jet Fabrics, Part III (Printed Treasures)

 

Today, we’re looking at Printed Treasures Ink Jet Fabric Sheets . 

 

I recently also described the effects of printing on Scrap Soft ink jet fabric and Electric Quilt (EQ) ink jet fabric.

 

According to Printed Treasures their ink jet fabric sheets are colorfast and washable. 

 

Like I said before, I have a run of the mill ink jet printer.  It’s a few years old and in good working condition.  It’s a HP C4480, Printer, Scanner, Copier.

All of the ink jet fabrics I used were “sew-on”.  No stickers or iron-on ink jet fabrics.

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3rd TEST Fabric:  Printed Treasures

 

Unlike some of the other companies, Printed Treasures does recommend setting your print parameters to “best”.  I’ve heard from other companies that this can put too much ink on your fabric (sigh).  There doesn’t seem to be a lot of agreement from company to company.

They also suggest letting your fabric dry for one minute before submerging it in an oversized bowl overflowing with a constant stream of cold water.  They say this will carry off any excess ink.  (*Note: this method gave me the worst results using this fabric.)

In terms of washing, Printed Treasures says their ink jet sheets may be washed either by hand or by machine in cold water using the gentle cycle and a mild detergent.

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Here’s what I found:

 

Fabric Quality: 

A thick fabric.  Not as soft as some of the other ink jet fabrics.  Also, this fabric is not a pure white, I think I would say it was off-white or creme.

 

**NOTE:  Each of the following tests used a newly printed logo. 

 

Test 1:  Quality of the original print using my HP printer.

                RESULTS:  The results after the initial printing were good.  The image was

                sharp and the colors nice. 

 

Test 2:  Submerging logo in a pan of Fabric Softener and water.  (4 tablespoons per cup of tap water)

                RESULTS:  Logo looked good, no major loss of color.  This method seems to

                work well with all of the ink jet fabrics.

 

Test 3:  Ran the printed logo under running cold water. 

                RESULTS:  Okay results…the red faded quite a bit.  The browns as well but   

                not as much as the reds.  Not too happy with this look!

 

Test 4:  Sprayed with Scotchgard and then placed under cold running water in sink.

                RESULTS:  The results of spraying with Scotchgard were that when I finally

                got the image wet, the reds were a slight bit more resistant to fading.

 

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Since most quilts will be washed, I tested the logos in the washing machine.  Once again, I cut the logo in half.  One side was washed with detergent.  The other half was washed with fabric softener.

 

Here’s what I found:

 

Test 5: The ink jet fabric was washed using laundry detergent (ALL Free and Clear).

               RESULTS:  (bottom left) Actually, the reds resisted fading BETTER than 

               running the fabric directly under water in the sink!  Overall, not too bad.

 

Test 6:  The ink jet fabric was washed using fabric softener (Downy Free).

               RESULTS:  (top right) Exactly the same results as the laundry detergent. 

 

 

BEST:  Scotchgard OR rinse (by hand) in a fabric softener/water mixture.

 

WORST: Running directly under plain tap water! 

 

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What did I determine about Printed Treasures Ink Jet Sheets?

-(using my HP printer)

 

     1.  Printing:  Colors and intensity are good with initial printing.

 

     2.   Running this fabric under cold water (as recommended) left me with the worst  

           results.

 

     3.   The recommended fabric softener/water mixture seems to be an excellent way to

           rinse off the excess pigments while retaining the original colors and sharpness.

 

    

My thoughts about using Printed Treasures….

 

-This fabric and it’s ability to retain color after washing was somewhere in the middle of the road.  I liked it better than Soft Scrap but not as much as EQ.

 

-I think I would always use some form of washing to get rid of any extra pigment sitting on top of the fabric, even if it was just the fabric softener/water combo.

 

-I liked the “hand” of the fabric.  It feels thick and gives an impression of a high quality fabric.  I did notice it significantly relaxed after washing in the washing machine and I liked the feel of the fabric better after washing.

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I hope this information was helpful overall.  Thanks for stopping by!!

 

Heather 

 

You know you’re a dog person if…the trash basket is more or less permanently installed in the kitchen sink to keep the dog out of it while you’re at work.