Cranfield Caligo, Safe Wash Relief Ink, 75ml Tube, Black, BKCN1860

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Yes, it's an intaglio ink but it works just fine for relief printing right out of the tube. Similar to Caligo but a little more expensive and smelly.

Anyway, I highly recommend Caligo Safe Wash Relief inks. They’re a fantastic alternative to traditional oil-based inks as far as safety and clean up goes, and superior to water-based inks in their working properties. The only thing I Really wish for is for Cranfield to add some metallics to their Caligo Safe Wash line. They have a gorgeous oil-based gold ink in their traditional oil-based line and I’d love to be able to get it in a water clean-up version. If you are intending to wear (e.g. a scarf) or handle the printed fabric (e.g. as a cushion) or it’s likely to be exposed to the elements (e.g. a pennant or flag) – then we’d advise you wash the printed fabric before using. This way the washed fabric has the best chance to remain smudge resistant – even if you may lose a little colour on first wash. Although – as you see – the results on cotton are good. Note – the pigmented ink is being ‘absorbed’ onto the fabric fibres rather than being ‘absorbed’ into the fibres as per fabric ‘dyes’. Humidity and temperature will also affect the drying time of oil-based inks. It can help to place the prints in an area with good air circulation and lower humidity. They’ll dry faster at warmer temperatures as well. I’ve read that you can speed up the process somewhat by using a hair dryer on low, but I’ve never tried it. If the fabric has a rough, woven texture and you want a more solid ink coverage that reaches ‘into the dips’- then you may need the help of a mechanical press with higher pressures.We would recommend you use our Safe Wash RELIEF Inks on fabric as these have some driers already added. If you need to speed up dry times, then you can add a drop of cobalt or manganese driers to your ink and mix well. Printing – with or without a press ? However the good news is that – once the Safe Wash Inks have been allowed to dry thoroughly and fully, they do show a good level resistance to handling and washing. Whilst we’re not able to guarantee that your fabric print will be fully water resistant and 100% fast on all textiles and situations – we’ve seen some lovely print results and excellent wash results. Ink the linocut in the normal way. Print as an etching. You’ll need to adjust the height of the gap between the roller and etching table to accommodate the linocut – try a few test prints to achieve the optimum pressure to give a strong, even print. Our best advice, as always, is to test on a sample piece first before committing to a full project. With this in mind – here’s our advice on using Safe Wash Inks for fabric printing. Which Inks?

If any stubborn patches of ink remain, dry the surface with a paper towel, work in more soap and wash again. The key is patience and giving sufficient time for the fabric print to dry fully before attempting to excessively rub or wash. Less absorbent fabrics will, we think, take longer to dry and will be more liable to smudge whilst waiting to fully dry as more of the ink will be left to sit on the top of the fibres rather than soak into them. In this case adding extra driers may help. All discounts against RRP are made against the United Kingdom Recommended Retail Price (RRP). Unless specified, offers and vouchers are not valid on products which are already discounted from RRP, gift vouchers, books and from the I LOVE ART range. Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Inks are water-soluble, oil-based inks suitable for all high-pressure techniques: woodcut, wood engraving, linocut, letterpress and also for printing with photopolymer plates. etc. The results are so good people have asked me if I've used oil printing inks for my lino cuts. I use up to ten colours in my prints and it makes exceptional prints on Somerset paper.

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I haven’t been really happy with the water-based printing inks I’ve been using. They’re way better than traditional oil-based inks. They’re non-toxic, much easier to clean up and you don’t need to use solvents, which makes them much safer, particularly in a home-based studio. While also oil-based, it's made to clean up easily (like Caligo's ink) and comes in a wide spectrum of colors. Speedballrolls out nicely and produces crisp images on t-shirts and other fabrics. On the downside, I find the smell a little unpleasant while I'm working with it. After it dries (up to 7 days), it washes well but there will be some slight fading over time. We’ve also hand printed successfully (on a hard surface) with a simple ‘traditional’ Rubber Stamp. Drying / Washing What are your thoughts on the water-soluble inks and oil-paints? Have you tried any of them? Tell me below in the comments! Update: please see this blog post about a problem cropping up with Akua Intaglio Ink and lightweight paper.

Clean up is easy. I mix the Caligo ink on a glass plate and to remove the ink at the end of work scrape off the excess onto newsprint then lightly flood the plate with a dishcloth of water. I let it soften for a minute and it then wipes away easily with kitchen towels or the glass or plexiglass can be flushed without fear under the tap. Same for rollers, roll off excess onto newsprint, loosen ink with water and get easy cleaning. Oil-based ink for all relief techniques including woodcut, linocut, monotype, engraving and Solarplate Caligo is best easy clean printmaking ink I've used. - I love using Caligo printing ink. It's easy to blend colours, give clear bright results, layers really well, cleans up easily with water and dries overnight.When applied in very thin layers, this ink works alright with linoleum. They also sell an extensive array of ink modifiers (transparent base, mag mix, etc.) to work with. I could see using this on a case-by-case basis, but it wouldn't be me goto linocut ink. |Reminder: It’s important to remember that we’ve designed our inks so that while they are wet, you can wash them out with just soap and water without the need for toxic solvents. Also great if you want to wash out and recycle your tarlatans and perfect for washing away the odd spot of ink on your hands or clothes while you work! I'm sorry, but it worked terribly for me and I tried several different colors.Thankfully, it's very hard to buy for those of us in the US. Some printers like to wash and dry their fabric first to give the most receptive surface for printing. Printing with a press will always give the densest, most even ink transfer for your fabric prints but you can still achieve pleasing results printing by hand.