Getting Started with Eco Printing

Why silk? I hear you ask. We think of silk as being a luxury, delicate, expensive fabric. It’s hard to source. We don’t wear much of it, and you won’t find much silk in the op shop, so it has limited potential for upcycling. That’s a negative because we are drawn to the idea of reusing things and reducing waste. It’s also very satisfying to make something beautiful out of something tired and old.

However, silk is one of the easiest fabrics to work with in eco printing. That’s because it doesn’t need any preparation before using it. It doesn’t need special washing, soaking or prolonged treatment with multiple stage preparation agents. Just a quick dip in a simple solution is all you need to get started. Experienced eco printers might add a few more steps into the mix, but at the beginner level, this is all that’s needed. If you can’t make a leaf or flower produce an ecoprint on silk, it’s unlikely that you will be able to use that plant to print on cotton or linen. So, if you want to take up eco printing, starting with silk is a good strategy. Then you can move on to more difficult fabrics.

When you unwrap a silk ecoprint to see what you have ended up with, it can be very exciting, and a little bit addictive! The colours and patterns on silk are often very beautiful, with high levels of definition and strong colours.

The basic process involves wrapping silk with leaves and/or flowers around a tube or dowel, wrapping it tightly and steaming it over simmering water (not in the water, but above the water.)

You’ll want a medium sized pot with a lid to start off with. It’s a good idea to stick to small projects until you get the hang of it, and small projects will fit in a smallish pot. Around 20cm diameter or more will be big enough. Kmart has cheap stainless steel pots that do the job.

Everything else is included in the kit, including:

A steamer rack that is the right size to fit in a smallish pot. If you end up with multiple people steaming projects in a large pot, clip some of the legs off the steamer rack and use more than one rack.

A small size heat proof tube for rolling. We use heater hose, which has some advantages over wooden dowel or bamboo. It gets hot and transmits heat to the centre of the bundle, where wood acts as an insulator and can sometimes undercook the centre of the bundle. Heater hose is also flexible, and it’s waterproof, so it won’t accidentally let unwanted water flood into your roll.

An elastic bandage. Some people use string, but bandages have some advantages when you are doing projects with steam. They are easy to use, distribute pressure evenly, and protect the fabric if it is jammed up against the side of the pot.

One of the strangest inventions known to man. A plastic oven bag designed to cook a chicken inside. No kidding. Last century, this is how chickens were cooked. You don’t have to use it, but there are a few advantages. It acts like a mini pressure cooker and really keeps the heat even and high (I haven’t had one pop so far.) You will probably be working in your kitchen at first unless you have an outside setup, and the bag controls the smell. If you have multiple rolls in a pot, the bag prevents the iron rolls from contaminating the delicate flower rolls. Don’t throw the bag away – rinse and reuse.

Bits and pieces. Gloves, steel pegs, heatproof plastic barrier sheeting (reuse multiple times).

The kit also contains a small sample pack of leaves and flowers. It includes tried and tested eucalyptus, including some baby blue; a packet of pressed dye flowers (according to the season); freeze dried rose petals and dried rose leaves. After checking out the plants that come with the kit; you should use the kit to test out your locally available plants.

n the ecoprinting world these are known as mordants. The two most commonly used ones are alum (aluminium sulphate) and iron (ferrous sulphate). You only need tiny amounts of iron. Too much and your project will become very dark, as iron tends to exaggerate and darken colours (this is known as a saddening effect). Hence the kit contains a small container or iron, and a larger packet of alum.

There are three recipes with the kit. As you look through them you will see that the recipes will help you understand the elements of eco printing that you have to master in order to branch out on your own.

• · Which plants work with alum, and which ones work with iron?
• · How much alum or iron do you have to use?
• · How do you decide how long to steam each bundle for?

After you have experienced the basic process, you will probably want to do some reading or an online course or workshop. You will likely branch out to other fabrics, and perhaps have a play with paper. 

There are several options for courses; for example, Gumnut Magic is Australian site with ebooks and ecourses covering a range of fabrics and including advice about Australian and exotic plants. It’s worth paying for a reputable source of information rather than trying to cobble things together via google searches. Sometimes participants in online forums give advice that only holds true in specific situations, sending you down a wrong path that can be very confusing.

As you are starting out, please feel free to reach out with questions about the basic process, perhaps via our facebook group.

Happy printing.