Fibre etching

The fibre etch remover is a gel that creates decorative effects by removing fibres. The remover is most effective on plant fibres like cotton, linen, rayon, and paper.

Materials needed:

  • Fibre etch gel
  • Screen
  • Squeegee
  • Fabric

Steps:

Pour the fibre etching gel onto the screen, and screen print on fabric. If using velvet, print on the back of the fabric. Leave to dry. Iron the fabric and wash in warm water.

 

Applications:

Scarf, clothing, wallpaper, pillow cover

Documentation:

BLEACHING

Materials needed:

  • Fabric (100% cotton or rayon)
  • bleach
  • spray bottle
  • water
  • gloves
  • rubber bands

Steps:

Prepare your fabric by tying them in bunches to create patterns that will show up after bleaching. Pour bleach in a spray bottle (1/4 of the bottle), and pour water until bottle is full. Mist the fabric with the bleach mixture. Wait for the fabric to fade. Wash and dry the fabric immediately after it has faded to the point that is desired.

 

Applications:

tie-dye t-shirt, bag, pillow case, clothing

Documentation:

tied up in bunches

post-bleaching. this was a fail as the fabric didn’t fade.

trying with a different fabric

finished! my hands smelled so bad

Reflection:

Fibre etching

How it works: the velvet contains cellulose, which is plant based. Beneath the layer of cellulose is polyester, which is synthetic. Only the cellulose layer will disintegrate with the etching liquid. Galina mentioned that it is imperative that we get the correct kind of velvet for it to work. She did a test by burning a small piece of the fabric and smelling it. If it smells like paper, it’s not the right one. If it smells like burnt hair, it’s the correct one.

 

I’ve seen the effect on fabrics before, but never knew how it was made. I’m intrigued by the liquid’s power to eat away at plant based fibres, leaving the synthetic fibres intact.

 

Bleaching

It takes some trial and error to figure out how to make nice patterns with bleaching, and depending on the fabric you use, it can be a quick way to manipulate fabric and create cool effects.