Which printer for printing onto fabric?

[yorkio]

Does anyone have any recommendations for inkjet printers for printing onto fabric such as the stuff sold by Crafty Computer Paper?

Many thanks

[Caroleecrafts]

I use an Epson D120 and my sister uses a HP, so both work well, remember to get the inkjet paper for inkjets etc.

[yorkio]

Thanks. Is there anything in particular about the printer I ought to be looking out for, or even anything I ought to be avoiding? Most of the information that I've managed to google up about this seems to suggest that more or less any inkjet will be OK, but technology changes so quickly that I wonder whether this is still necessarily the case. I suppose I'm thinking mainly about how the paper is fed through.

[onlyme]

By 'fabric' do you mean canvas sheets, because then you will have to consider the ink you will be printing with, which should be archival so that it doesn't fade.

[yorkio]

By 'fabric' do you mean canvas sheets, because then you will have to consider the ink you will be printing with, which should be archival so that it doesn't fade.

No, I mean printing on the fabric sheets which are sold specifically for use with inkjet printers. You appear to be able to buy these in different sorts of fabrics (cotton, linen, silk etc). I'd give you a link to show you the sort of thing I mean but I haven't got enough posts to put links in my posts apparently. However, if you go to google uk and paste in inkjet fabric printing, there are plenty of results. There's a fair range at Crafty Computer Paper dot co uk.

(I should also confess that I'm not actually the end user here either – this is a present for my crafting wife. Hence my determination not to buy the wrong thing!)

[onlyme]

Yes, I see what you mean now. Well all I can tell you is what I use for all my printing needs...an Epson R2400. It has a 3 way feed ie: top load, front load and a back spool thingy that feeds paper on a roll, and it uses archival inks (I need that for my artwork) It was quite pricey when I bought it but it may be cheaper now?

[Caroleecrafts]

I use the epson durabrite ultra ink and have had no fading, quite a cheap printer about £40.00 from Staples and works fine. It has a tray feeder at the back and the sheets go down through the heads.

[yorkio]

Thanks, all. At the moment, I'm favouring a Brother, purely because we've also got a Brother laser printer that's behaved impeccably for the past five years or so, so all other things being equal, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's reassuring to learn that just about everyone uses something different and no one seems to have any particular horror stories.

[pollyanna-patchwork]

Hi There,

I just thought I'd add my experience for you...I use a Canon S820 which is a pretty old inkjet printer - I think I've had for a good few years now. Again, inks have been mentioned already but I make sure that I always buy the best ink I can afford usually the proprietary ones as I have always had a better printing experience in general with them.

The main thing I would say to look for is one that you can feed the sheets in from behind. You don't want just a bottom tray load as there is the potential for the sheets to get jammed and the fabric sheets are not cheap so you'd hate to ruin one!

Hope you get what you are after and that your wife is pleased.

Happy Hunting (& sewing!)

Alison

[hippy at Heart]

Any inkjet will do for this but have to agree that a sheet feed from the back rather than underneath is by far the best way. Saves paper/fabric jams. This is my fave way of patchwork. Hope your wife enjoys it.