Speedball Fabric Block Printing Ink, 2.5-Ounce, Black

Ok ink. Easy clean up but the viscosity is far too runny for quality fabric relief prints

Speedball Fabric ink has good tack, covers a rubber or linoleum block well, and still manages to put down a nice clear print on fabric (I am printing linen, shantung silk, and cotton). It is reasonably priced, too. I have experimented with a number of other inks in the water-wash up variety, printing by hand or with Speedballs small hand press and this ink performs very well, permeates the fabric just enough and yet - very important - dries quickly! The clean up is a breeze with just soap and water and there are no fumes at all. It maintains its viscosity in the tube, and is so much easier to use than something like a screen printing ink on fabric. I generally use aqua wash etching inks on fabric and though colors are richer, there is the painfully long two weeks of drying time. Speedball inks dry in 48 - 72 hours. You will not have to do anything after printing to set the color. Just wait a few days. Ive washed it. The color hangs on just fine on fabric. The cons are: The color seems to fade as it dries on the fabric after printing, so be prepared for a slight color shift. The ink will come out looking exactly like the color square on the tube, but will dry lighter. Also, there are very few colors available. I hope they expand their palette of tubed ink. The ink dries pretty quickly on the plate once rolled out. As a result, you end up using quite a bit of ink per print session. You can get around some of this issue by changing how you print: either rolling ink into a foam pad which will keep it wet, or simply working faster.

So excited for this!! Going to try new crafts!

Thanks so much! Exactly what I needed and so quick too!

Great ink. Plain and simple and easy to use as an experienced oil based artist.

This ink is nice and thick. You can clean up with water, but after drying and curing (takes a few days) it is washable. The colors are vibrant.

Alright

Brilliant

Thankfully Im testing this on muslin before doing final printing. I let the sample sit a month before washing, and it faded badly. This could be in part due to sizing on the new fabric. I did another print test on the washed sample piece, I heat set it with a steam iron (print side down on parchment paper) and Im letting it cure for a week. UPDATE pre-washed fabric, heat setting, and giving it a week to cure and the test sample laundered well.

I really liked this printing ink, but I didnt realize how much I needed for each print, so I was only able to print about 6 hoodies with the entire bottle.