The Ink Kitchen

FESPA digital 2014 had all kinds of decoration innovation and another we saw was old school toner based transfers, with a bright white toner for dark garments.

Although a digital show, direct digital printing has not stopped other forms of decoration, nor stopped innovation in other forms. Transfers were one form going strong, here we see new forms or improvements for transfers that resist dye migration or can stretch with the new fabrics, apply to odd shaped substrates (shoes!) or machines that enable quick…

A booth with a display of furoshiki, tradtional Japanese wrapping cloths, caught my eye at FESPA Digital last week. It was a Japanese company called Denatex, who were promoting their new zero-emission, smoke-free sublimation transfer system. They collaborated with a traditional furoshiki maker from Kyoto to create their display items, which were beautiful. And they were handing out squares of printed…

Improvements to digital printing on fabric, improvements to transfers for textile, improvements to sublimation on fabric, and yes even improvements for screenprinting on textiles. In many ways it is an exciting time to be a decorator of garments because so many techniques are possible and they all seem to be improving. The look on this…

Printing on garments has really come a long way and nowhere is that more apparent than in the winning prints for the FESPA Awards 2014. Once printers in the States ruled the world, but no longer. The winning prints at FESPA are incredible and they come from shops in Russia and Poland. From super fine…

A few notes from  FESPA Digital in Munich, Germany: Progressive companies in the USA are now part of a global system, they are here in Munich seeing what is going on. Environmentalism is not dead, the rest of the world is passing the USA by. Not so many heads in the sand here (or is…

I figured I should post about single head embroidery machines with a laser since one of the cheapest dudes I have ever met in the industry has just purchased one. I’m sure Hirsch/Tajima can give you the numbers to run yourself, but I”m telling you that this guy I know would not be getting one…

How do you know ink is cured on a shirt? Wash it as you normally would launder a shirt and see if the ink comes off. Get a washer and dryer at work or bring shirts home, that is the only way to be sure if the ink is cured. You can use all kinds…

Este post de hace de cinco años todavía sigue vigente. El otro día alguien hablaba del “teal “, un color que puede ser desde azul brillante a un color mas azul verdoso. Esto es lo que pasa con el color, puede ser una trampa si no tienes cuidado.Hoy recordamos las maravillas del Sistema de Comparación…

Down on Frenchman Street in New Orleans on a Tuesday night which was turning into Wednesday morning I met Rosin, selling her “Kitchen Ink” wares at a table. She literally screens on the floor in her kitchen, air dries her ink, and has a total DIY operation going. A few photos of her designs and…