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Printing on Fabric

Discussion in 'Projects' started by Jutte, May 26, 2016.

  1. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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  2. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Never tried it thought of it. Cool idea let us know how you do!
     
  3. 3D Printer Man

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    That looks nice, i would like to print on fabic

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
     
  4. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    Tried it tonight with a logo created by a friend. The fabric is a cotton or cotton/linen blend muslin. The print is PLA, 35 mm square and 2 mm deep. It is stuck onto the fabric pretty well, but can be peeled off. I doubt it would survive a machine washing. I'm not sure if the brown spot is a burn mark from the nozzle or if it was there to begin with. The fabric was just a strip that I clamped to the bed stretched as tight as I could make it, but only on the front and back edges. The sides were unsecured. The fabric did shift a little when the print head moved into position, but after that it seemed to be fine. The back side of the print stuck slightly to the print bed, but that may have just been residual hairspray. I removed it from the bed pretty soon after it completed, and there is a very slight cupping to the print. Now I'm curious whether a flex filament would work, but I haven't worked with that yet.

    fabric_print1.jpg
     
  5. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    With a little diligence, I was able to scrape the brown mark away. I think it was discolored filament from the skirt, which I peeled away before photographing.
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Apply a few drops of cyanoacrylate from the back through the cloth.
    See how easy it is to get off then :)

    SemiFlex would be great, but for patterns like that that are not tall even NinjaFlex would work fine.
     
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  7. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    I'll try that. Have to go buy some, I haven't used it in so long it's dried up.
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It is an interesting project, curious to see what you come up with.
     
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  9. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    In the end, though, it would probably be simpler just to print out the motifs and glue them onto the fabric with Gem-Tac. Still, I gotta try it out just for fun.
     
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  10. 3D Printer Man

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    What filament/ material did you use?
     
  11. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    PLA and cotton or cotton/linen blend (not sure which).
     
  12. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    How did you get the fabric to stay on the bed?
     
  13. Jutte

    Jutte Member

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    I used clamps on the front and back edges of the plate. The sides were not clamped. I saw the fabric shift a bit when the print head moved into position, but it returned immediately and the print proceeded just fine. It appears to me that the big problem is printing on a garment. Securing the edges of a shirt could be difficult, and you would have to have the fabric doubled or find a way to scrunch the back up so that it doesn't interfere with the printer. Easier to print on unsewn fabric. However, the easiest and probably most durable method would be to print out the motif and then glue it onto the garment with something designed for attaching things to fabric.
     
  14. EyesFiT

    EyesFiT New Member

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    It is dependent on the process and application.
    Are you purchasing reams of a pattern you created to make clothes? Are you making a backdrop for a trade show? Will you expect the fabric to be washable in a washing machine? Is the process digitally direct? What is die-sublimation? a repeated screen-printed pattern measuring 4' x 8'? What and why do you want the fabric to be?
    Because there are so many processes and applications for printed fabric, it is important to understand what your requirements are.
     
    #14 EyesFiT, May 9, 2021
    Last edited: May 12, 2021

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