I use acrylic paint and rubbing alcohol. In my paint palette, I just squeeze a small dot of acrylic, then I use a dropper to drop alcohol into it. Or...I paint the surface with a light coat of acrylic, let it dry then give a thin coat of alcohol. So many ways...also food coloring mixed with alcohol has been really wonderful for me. Just thought I'd pass it on. Being on a fixed income, I cannot afford to buy those wonderful inks. So Ive had to make my own. :)
Thanks for this tip! I too have a very limited craft budget lol I'll have to give this a try! I wonder how chalk pastels would work as pigment for an alcohol ink? I'll have to test that lol
Loved your video! I make my inks using alcohol and markers from the dollar store. I take the markets apart, take out the ink filters, drop them into the alcohol and let them soak for a couple of days and they work great!
I know that I'm watching this video several years later than filmed, but thought someone might watch it late as I am. I use alcohol inks, but cannot afford to purchase the Ranger brand, so I make my own. I use Sharpie markers, not dye, for the reasons you showed. There are videos demonstrating using markers. They are not my videos, but easily found on UA-cam.
Haha I just saw this. Considering Tim’s inks are 90% pigment, I’m not surprised you weren’t happy with the results. I do powdered Rit dye, 99% alcohol to the same volume as the dye, and add a drop of dish soap to help emulsify the dye and the alcohol. I get incredibly vivid pigments this way.
Dont know if anyone has mentioned this tip but I actually have made alcohol ink with left over printer cartridge ink. it separates as it sits but you just shake it up and it mixes right back together. it is very nice and you can make it as vibrant or as " watered down" as you would like and I made mine in a spray bottle. I do use it on my clay and also, keep in mind that the printer colors are primary colors and you can make any color you like. I love your videos and tips :-)
The liquid dye didn't work because it's not water soluble. To turn it into a thinner dye ink you would have to use oil solvents like mineral spirits, or mineral oil (like baby oil), or even naphtha. It's just like oil paints won't mix with water and you need a oil solvent to clean the brushes because water doesn't mix with oil. Another example is nail polish it doesn't mix with water because it's not water soluble so you would need a nail polish/ lacquer thinner or acetone in order to make it soluble, thin, or just clean you brushes. I hope this was helpful. Thank you!
Hi.....I´ve been looking your homemade Alcohol Inks video. I don´t have the particular brand you use for the "recipie", so I can´t be sure if this will work for your materials. I would like to suggest to mix the liquid dye with 2 parts of water first, when the dye is already mix with the water, then you may add 6 parts of Isopropyl Alcohol; but instead of 99% alcohol; maybe you can use 70% or 75% alcohol. The liquid dye is not soluble in alcohol so they don´t mix. The dye is water soluble, then you can dilute it in water. Once the dye is in a water solution, if you add alcohol it becames soluble in alcohol because alcohol and water are easy to mix. The difference between 99% and 70% Alcohol is the amount of water mixed with the alcohol. 99% alcohol means 99 part of alcohol+1part of water (and other stuffs). If you use 70% alcohol you will have more water and the dye will dilute quickly. I apologize for my English. I hope this will work.
Hi Nantrónica - You are welcome. Glad to hear you are enjoying the tutorials. Now in regards to your voice training comment... I'm not exactly sure what you mean. Please elaborate :-)
Boiling water could work but it would have to be in a very tiny amount since we are trying to make a concentrated alcohol ink and not a fabric dye. It would be worth testing though. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thank you, Ann, you are sweet! We haven't made anything for UA-cam for a little while... we have been rebuilding our website, and it has taken WAY longer than expected. We should be back filming for UA-cam soon, though, so stay tuned! I do, do a weekly LIVE Q&A Broadcast on Facebook though if you're interested. It is every Wed. at 12 NOON Pacific on our Facebook Page: facebook.com/polymerclay Hope to see you there! :)
Hi Dianna Brooks, I have no idea whether your other dyes will work or what the amounts would be, since I have not tried either brand you mentioned before. That is something that you are going to have to test for yourself. Let us know how it goes!
Hi lambanmartyr, that's a good question! I don't the answer to that, maybe someone else here does? I don't have time right now to test it myself, but I will put it on the list and see if I get to it. Thanks for commenting!
Maybe? Haven't tried it yet. A high concentrated food coloring would be needed though, or the color would be too weak. Why don't you give it a try and let us know how it goes?
what about in synthetic hair. I have rit dye right fabric dye for synthetic. I have a blonde synthetic wig and I want it blue. I wondered if the color would be better if I used alcohol ink. My boyfriend already went through alot of trouble to get me the fabric dye so I don't wanna ask him to return it and get something else so i was wondering if I should use fabric dye or if I should make this alcohol ink with the rit dye.
Hi Mona Lewis, these homemade alcohol inks are great for paper and definitely won't come off when dried. I haven't tested them in the sun, so I don't know whether they are color fast or not. You may want to test that yourself. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Miina87, distress ink doesn't work on non-porous items like polymer clay is when it is baked. I haven't yet tried it with raw clay though, that might work. Try it and let me know how it goes!
Hi shersmelley, Food color might work for making alcohol ink, though you probably would need to use the more concentrated gels rather than the liquid you get at the grocery store, otherwise I think the color would be too weak. It wouldn't hurt to try it though if you have the supplies around your home. As far as amounts, always start with small amounts of each supply and add a little of whatever you think you need more of. Making up recipes is always trial and error. But that's the fun part!
I've been looking into making my own alcohol inks/sprays to use in paper crafts and this was the first video/tutorial I've seen that mentions using the fabric dyes such as Rit...which is really quite a brilliant idea! I think for use on paper, this would give me much better results than the other tutorials I've seen which just look like watered down paint...but I'm sure each variety serves it's purpose. So...all that to say...thank you for a different perspective and a great video explaining the process and applications of these. And interesting from a non-polymer clay artists perspective :)
I am just starting to learn about alcohol Inks, and have found a lot of tutes on gloss paper and tiles, and they speak of blending fluid, I suspect that it is Isopropyl and I think I picked up somewhere that it has glycerin in it. Would you know, and if this is correct and how much glycerin. Many thanks. I work with PC, but have found very few tutes using alcohol ink.
I wonder if it would mess up the chemical balance of the resin and not cause it to set. Definitely worth testing. If you try it, let us know if it works!
Not wanting to go on a chemistry tangent but isopropyl alcohol is not very polar. You might try denatured alcohol. It is ethanol with methanol added to make it undrinkable. It is more polar and dissolved more water soluble stuff than isopropyl alcohol. I make my own acrylic paint reducer that basically 20% denatured alcohol in water with surfactant which breaks down surface tension letting me airbrush water based acrylics.
Go on all the chemistry rants you want to! I am all about learning so if it is a chemistry rant that gives us the answers than that is just fine with me! 🤓 Thanks for the tips about the denatured alcohol. I will have to get some and test it out myself!
if you look on the side of the Ranger bottles, you will see that they contain ethanol, propylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol in them. Ethanol is the same as denatured alcohol. I sent for the ppg, but have not figured out the proportions yet. I have procion dyes which are much more concentrated than the Rit dye is. If you get too much ppg, which I sent for thru Amazon, it makes it greasy, so it must not take very much. I think it's a binder.
I had great luck making my own alcohol inks using food coloring allow continence of each color of food coloring to air dry then after add alcohol works great and got great intense color and its very cheep I can find four colors in a pack at the dollar store
Thank you for illustrating a possible problem with liquid RIT dye. I have seen the dye process used with hot water to dilute or blend the dye, so now I will use your adding alcohol after melted. I have Breast Cancer, easy to find free blonde wigs... Brown wigs not so much🤔 So here's to you for sharing your experience ❤😘 Have a blessed creative day😊
After watching your tutorial on UA-cam I would skip the hassle and buy the commercial inks. I love all your tutorials, I am completely new to this and watching you is the only way I have been able to learn not only how to make things but also what I needed to get started so I didn't go out and spend a ton of money until I knew if I would like this medium! And so far I'm enjoying shaping the clay and painting it and putting all your great tips and ideas to use. I used to take ceramic classes years ago when my kid's were young but that was in the eighties and nineties. Now you can't find anyone who does classes anymore and since I made many things and loved painting the ceramics, I thought polymer clay might be something similar I would enjoy and on the plus side I can do it anytime in my own home w/ just an oven instead of relying on someone having a kiln in there basement to fire my creations! Lol Wow times have changed but for the good. I actually love the polymer clay a 100% better than the old ceramics. Keep doing the tutorials for beginner's, it's like having my own private teacher right at home and you do an Awesome job on all your tutorials!!!!!!! Thanks again, Maureen Q.
Thank you Maureen for your lovely comments! You should make sure to check out our blog at www.polymerclaytutor.com There is lots more information there and you can sign up for the newsletter. Polymer clay is a fabulous medium to work with. Glad you have come along for the ride!
I tried making the alcohol ink using professional Procion MX dyes. I think it would be worth your while to order the sample kit I mentioned in my previous comment and giving it a try. I used less than one quarter of a quarter teaspoon... an amount that is really hard to measure. I put the dry granules into about 1 1/2 ounces of alcohol. The mix was instantly a vibrant turquoise. There was a little residue in the bottom of the bottle (maybe the salt you mention... though I don't think it's actual salt). The color was a beautiful turquoise on paper. I did not have any white polymer clay to try it out on (and I don't do much polymer clay anymore so I probably won't be using it for that) but it was a good enough test to believe that anyone who does polymer (or wants alcohol ink for any other reason) might want to give this a try. I don't buy those samplers I mentioned anymore but I buy turquoise, fuchsia and yellow with which I can make any other colors. For less than the price of 6 bottles of the Adirondack alcohol ink you could be set to make - at a guess - gallons of alcohol ink of many many colors.
I used coloured sharpie markers and alcohol from the dollar store (I'm pretty sure it's 70%). My colours aren't super rich but they are vibrant. I think I used too much alcohol per pen. It still works for colouring the surface of the clay, but I would make it more concentrated if you're colouring the clay itself. I used the ink from a regular ball-point pen in alcohol to make a black ink which is extremely black!
So going to try using my vast Procion and Acid Dye lots from Dharma Trading. Hint on using dye powder. You can use Urea (Sheeps urine in ball form) to mix your powder into a liquid paste. The urea desolves removing powder for tie dye or fabric dying, so you don't have bursts of powder while dying. It should work for this technique as well. I would add a bit more dye, so you don't loose your intensity.
Hi Miina87, a good online shop with everything you could possibly need for polymer clay is called Polymer Clay Express. I'd give you the link but UA-cam doesn't allow links in comments. Good ink brands to try are Pinata Inks and Adirondack Inks. Good luck, I hope you find what you need!
Thanks for the tip Lilmeemers! My guess is that there is a little water in the weaker strength of Alcohol, which would make sense for why it works. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video - I tried it and it really works as you showed. I have a question about making "shades" of colour - like the "mushroom" colour Adirondack Inks has - can we DIY shades of brown for example? What might be the ratio if it can be done?
I mixed the Rit with a small amount of water and aloe hand sanitizer (contains 65% alcohol, glycol, glycerine, aloe, and a few other things). Half alcohol and half dye made a dark gray color that faded to an even lighter shade when I tested it on a white waxed cupcake paper cup. Thinking about buying some gunmetal colored fine holographic glitter for it to make it more interesting since I doubt it will get darker even with the rest of the dye.
Hi Yamamoto Tsunetomo, you should be able to use it on wood, but I would do some test swatches first. You may need to use a wood conditioner first, to get the ink on evenly. Google that to learn more.
Heating up the rubbing alcohol might help the dye mix in better, but I wouldn't like the fumes. It is already pretty smelly and evaporates fast. Heating it up would make it worse I think.
Yeah I have seen people make alcohol ink with Sharpies and stuff. You're right about there not being any gunk with that method. I would have a hard time sacrificing my nice pens for that though. Even if it were cheaper in the long run. I think in that case I would just use the ink directly from the pen rather than make a bottle of ink with it. It is a cool concept though.
Well I made some alcohol ink with Rit dye tonight and tried it on leather. While I didn't get the sludge in the container (I used 1 tsp. dye and 6 tsp. alcohol), it took almost 3 application on the test piece before it started looking like the dark green on the bottle. However, the Adirondack inks and the Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens worked great. Thanks for the info and if I need to use this on paper or fabric it will work great!
Yes I have been tempted to try and make my own alcohol inks for some time. But after watching your video, I am going to spare myself of the trouble and just buy beautiful colors from Adirondack Alcohol Ink. - Thank you so much :)
I tried an alcohol ink dye mix online I saw with food coloring, and it was still watered down and weak, but I mixed a water color, the kind that comes in a tube you add the water to, but you have to add the water as well, and I could control the concentration of dark to light and got a blend effect, I leaving it on a piece of raw clay over night to see if its going to effect the clay, get brittle, sticky, or what have you, so I will see how it goes in the morning
I am so very happy that I watched your video today. For me making my own is out! Your examples were very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do this video.
Have you tried mixing the powder or the liquid with hot water instead? Maybe it would dissolve the dyes so you wouldn't have as much sludge in the mixture. Let me know if you think that might help. I was wanting to try this but have not yet.
One of the reasons I haven't already tried this was because I anticipated the home made inks would not be as good a quality in colour as the commercial inks. As I use inks primarily for stamping and that quality was fairly good, I think I will give it a try. Good information here. Thanks!
I like both. Thanks so much. I think I am going to go with the posder. Seems less messy and easier to deal with...all the way around. I really enjoyed your video.
that's what I did. I mixed the powder with hot wAter and made it a tad darker then I wanted so when I mixed it with alcohol in spray bottle it was perfect. it does settle after few days you'll have to shake bottle back n forth NOT up n down (you'll clog sprayer) to mix it up everytime you use it. but I love it. I mix in perfect pearls or translucent medium(lil goes long way, too much clogs sprayer) to make it glittery. my son helps me says we're mad scientists, he's made lovely colors
beforehand anyone says anything. we wear masks and gloves. I do not let him actually play with dye. he is the color tester he sprays the inks and tells me whether or not it needs more color/glitter. we have a great time Regardless he's 10 years old and we're in a well ventilated area
I make my owm alcohol ink as well. If you like glitter or pearly inks, I have used Dollar Tree eyeshadow. For me it is about saving $ wherever I can; but still enjoying the process (and products) of making beautiful art.
i have pure pigment liquid in the primary colours,u mix it with a medium to turn it into fabric ink for screenprinting,it is water based.i dont have much money so do u think these will work?
Did you ever think of trying mixing the alcohol with the powdered egg dye used in Eastern Europe for egg decorating (the famous Pysanky)? You might have a nice surprise waiting for you there. I personally just use watercolor and use alcohol instead of water on them. If you choose the proper kind of watercolors - and they can be found at the dollar stores - you get awesome stuff
I liked your example, for me i think i would use both depending on project , there are some colors i use much more then others so those would help to cut cost with the home made.TFS
hello Cindy I think I might like to make my own only BC iam going to be useing them on paper or tags so that paper too not clay thank you so much please let me know when you have other videos ..thnak you MaryR,
I was interested in trying to make my own..with the exact products ... I am so very thankful that i watched this first as i would not be satisfied with the results just as you were not... I will stick with store bought brands. So glad i watched your video first! Thank you so much for this video. I am a newbie to polymer clay. Have only ever worked with PMC so I have much to learn and am so thankful for your tutorials. Kindest Regards, Cheryl
It looks like the homemade inks would be great for paper crafting, since they're vibrant on paper. Will try the Procion MX dye technique suggested by bunnidotcom, as I have a lot of it. Looks like the commercial ink works much better for the polyclay. Plan to try this for the holidays on cards and decorations.
Thanks from a fellow Canadian that dreams of lots of travel in the future! (I checked out your channel and just had to subscribe! Couldn't resist the urge to travel along with you guys!) :)
Hi there, I'm a art student and I use the commercial inks, I do need something with more bulk, so I'm going to try this "recipe" out. How would it work with gesso?
where do you buy those bottles for $4? I know some people say it works great if you use 91% alcohol and other people use cheap felt pens from the dollar store into the alcohol but I haven't tried any yet. I imagine what you made would be great on acetate.
+Dorothy wintschel: thats how I have been making alcohol inks for over 5 years, they are very expensive to buy in Australia, and when I first started making them I could not even get them. The colour is brilliant and they last for years. I have even successfully tried liquid food dyes! but I would never use Rit or Dylon to dye ANYTHING because they are made to dye everything so only a small part of the dye bonds to the alcohol. I've also heard you can use the colour left over from toner cartridges from a colour laser printer to make inks, and you can grate up coloured pencil shavings. Just not universal dyes like Rit.
There's another video by Jan Fox I believe where she takes sharpie markers apart and makes alcohol ink with those. They are permanent ink and a solvent so are stronger than the Rit Dye. I have Procion fabric dyes, but haven't tried using those, but they are much stronger than Rit, so they might work
After making the alcoholic ink, i wanna put it in a EMPTY marker, so, what percentage of ink and what makes it alil bit thicker? Do you know ?...I want it to be very pigmented and stay the same colors of it.
Hi madam i really appreciate ur efforts ! Can I use acrylic inks with alcohol to create alcohol inks ? Do they give the same fading and results ? Unfortunately they dont sale alcohol inks where I live 😢 thank u !!
I have some left-over powdered Proceon Fabric Dye from another class can I use these instead of Ritt Dye. What would be the mesurements please for this? Thank you
Wow Cindy this is awesome! I am going to have to try to make primary colors, I do a lot of polymer clay stuff but I was thinking of doing mixed media canvas which is why I bought alcohol ink to begin with, at least I know this method of making my own. I will definately try this when I run out of the stuff I bought. Thanks again for all your help.
Curious the difference in quality over time . Certainly making it is straight forward from your explaination . Also curious is watercolor ink vs alcohol ink just using water in place of rubbing alcohol. Or is it not same thing/quality for some reason?
hi ya, just curious, why do you not just put the dye to the poly clay............ but thank you that was a lovely tutorial barb UK.............defo want to try my own, just bought and paid £2.35 or approx $3.50 per bottle.........way too expensive as it doesn't go too far unless you are doing a small project..................thanks for tips barb UK
I just found some old (but liquidy-vibrant) Peintex Fabric dye in the bottom of my craft box. Can I use these? And what would be the measurements please. Thanks
I made some with alcohol and what lies markers.Break open sharper marker and put middle color piece in small container of several parts alcohol shake and leave sit overnight.
Hi. Can you use food colourant instead of fabric dye?. I have seen a few video tutorials that show how to make spray ink using a gel food colourant and water but, not alcohol.
I would think the food coloring would fade to ugly brown as it is a vegetable dye. I have used food coloring full strength with my pen and ink drawings and it always fades.
hi again :) i am wondering what the best way to colour a white polymer clay (particularly sculpey iii) or if it is better to paint on colours after baking? thanks claire
Hi Claire Paul I just like to use colored clays, but there are tons of ways you can color white polymer clay. Alcohol inks, acrylic paints in small amounts, oil paints in small amounts, powdered pigments, chalks, bits of other colored clays, etc. Or you can paint your pieces with acrylics after it has been baked. Play around with different mediums and see which one you like best. Good luck!
commercial alcohol inks are made with ethyl alcohol. now available at Walgreens in a 70% solution. rit dye has a brightener that may work as far as vibrancy.
Dyes for fabric use a mordant to create a chemical bond. With plant fibers what is used are actually two links to get it to bond. Wool or silk are proteins which need only one link to bond. Rit dyes are made up to dye EITHER plant or protein based fiber. The stuff that wouldn't mix in is probably metal salts which are the mordants that bond the dye. Why does this matter? Because one year later the dye has faded and become grey or brownish. It is oxidizing with the air or changing due to UV exposure. Presumably commercial dye based inks have taken this into account and have the needed mordant to make the dye bond. Food for thought.
Thank you for your kind words! We stepped away for what was supposed to be a short while, to upgrade our website and business and it has taken way longer than expected. We shouldn't be too much longer now, before we are back.
That die is supposed to be used with WATER? Like in the washing machine.... that is what I used when I used these dies with fabric... please correct me if I'm wrong... ;)
Using homemade inks v bought inks: would the homemade have the same lightfastness as bought product? In the long-term, would the intensity of colour last as long in the homemade variety? Just curious!!
I use acrylic paint and rubbing alcohol. In my paint palette, I just squeeze a small dot of acrylic, then I use a dropper to drop alcohol into it. Or...I paint the surface with a light coat of acrylic, let it dry then give a thin coat of alcohol. So many ways...also food coloring mixed with alcohol has been really wonderful for me. Just thought I'd pass it on. Being on a fixed income, I cannot afford to buy those wonderful inks. So Ive had to make my own. :)
Thank you Barbara! I'm on a fixed income too and your technique is terrific and affordable. Can't wait to get started!
Thanks for this tip! I too have a very limited craft budget lol I'll have to give this a try! I wonder how chalk pastels would work as pigment for an alcohol ink? I'll have to test that lol
tanks for sharing this wonderful trick!
Gel food colouring? :)
Seaglass Barbara, how much do you use of the paint and alcohol do you use?
Loved your video! I make my inks using alcohol and markers from the dollar store. I take the markets apart, take out the ink filters, drop them into the alcohol and let them soak for a couple of days and they work great!
I know that I'm watching this video several years later than filmed, but thought someone might watch it late as I am. I use alcohol inks, but cannot afford to purchase the Ranger brand, so I make my own. I use Sharpie markers, not dye, for the reasons you showed. There are videos demonstrating using markers. They are not my videos, but easily found on UA-cam.
Haha I just saw this. Considering Tim’s inks are 90% pigment, I’m not surprised you weren’t happy with the results. I do powdered Rit dye, 99% alcohol to the same volume as the dye, and add a drop of dish soap to help emulsify the dye and the alcohol. I get incredibly vivid pigments this way.
Thanks for the soap tip! I will have to try that!
Dont know if anyone has mentioned this tip but I actually have made alcohol ink with left over printer cartridge ink. it separates as it sits but you just shake it up and it mixes right back together. it is very nice and you can make it as vibrant or as " watered down" as you would like and I made mine in a spray bottle. I do use it on my clay and also, keep in mind that the printer colors are primary colors and you can make any color you like. I love your videos and tips :-)
+crystal brigman Cool idea! I'll have to try that!
Crystal, what a great idea! Are you able to recycle the printer ink cartridges afterwards, or do you throw them away?
Catherine S. Todd I did recycle the empty cartridges. There is a place that refills them and resells them really cheaply.
I know this comment was about a year ago sorry, but I was curious about how you got the ink out of the cartridge?
PanicLedisko i am assuming you buy the bottles of refill liquid ink and use those, not a cartridge.
The liquid dye didn't work because it's not water soluble. To turn it into a thinner dye ink you would have to use oil solvents like mineral spirits, or mineral oil (like baby oil), or even naphtha. It's just like oil paints won't mix with water and you need a oil solvent to clean the brushes because water doesn't mix with oil. Another example is nail polish it doesn't mix with water because it's not water soluble so you would need a nail polish/ lacquer thinner or acetone in order to make it soluble, thin, or just clean you brushes. I hope this was helpful. Thank you!
Hi.....I´ve been looking your homemade Alcohol Inks video. I don´t have the particular brand you use for the "recipie", so I can´t be sure if this will work for your materials.
I would like to suggest to mix the liquid dye with 2 parts of water first, when the dye is already mix with the water, then you may add 6 parts of Isopropyl Alcohol; but instead of 99% alcohol; maybe you can use 70% or 75% alcohol.
The liquid dye is not soluble in alcohol so they don´t mix. The dye is water soluble, then you can dilute it in water. Once the dye is in a water solution, if you add alcohol it becames soluble in alcohol because alcohol and water are easy to mix. The difference between 99% and 70% Alcohol is the amount of water mixed with the alcohol. 99% alcohol means 99 part of alcohol+1part of water (and other stuffs). If you use 70% alcohol you will have more water and the dye will dilute quickly.
I apologize for my English. I hope this will work.
Hi Nantrónica - You are welcome. Glad to hear you are enjoying the tutorials. Now in regards to your voice training comment... I'm not exactly sure what you mean. Please elaborate :-)
Boiling water could work but it would have to be in a very tiny amount since we are trying to make a concentrated alcohol ink and not a fabric dye. It would be worth testing though. Thanks for the suggestion!
Cindy, you are wonderful. Are you still making videos on a regular basis?
Thank you, Ann, you are sweet! We haven't made anything for UA-cam for a little while... we have been rebuilding our website, and it has taken WAY longer than expected. We should be back filming for UA-cam soon, though, so stay tuned! I do, do a weekly LIVE Q&A Broadcast on Facebook though if you're interested. It is every Wed. at 12 NOON Pacific on our Facebook Page: facebook.com/polymerclay Hope to see you there! :)
Hi Dianna Brooks, I have no idea whether your other dyes will work or what the amounts would be, since I have not tried either brand you mentioned before. That is something that you are going to have to test for yourself. Let us know how it goes!
Hi lambanmartyr, that's a good question! I don't the answer to that, maybe someone else here does? I don't have time right now to test it myself, but I will put it on the list and see if I get to it. Thanks for commenting!
Maybe? Haven't tried it yet. A high concentrated food coloring would be needed though, or the color would be too weak. Why don't you give it a try and let us know how it goes?
what about in synthetic hair. I have rit dye right fabric dye for synthetic. I have a blonde synthetic wig and I want it blue. I wondered if the color would be better if I used alcohol ink. My boyfriend already went through alot of trouble to get me the fabric dye so I don't wanna ask him to return it and get something else so i was wondering if I should use fabric dye or if I should make this alcohol ink with the rit dye.
Hi Mona Lewis, these homemade alcohol inks are great for paper and definitely won't come off when dried. I haven't tested them in the sun, so I don't know whether they are color fast or not. You may want to test that yourself. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Miina87, distress ink doesn't work on non-porous items like polymer clay is when it is baked. I haven't yet tried it with raw clay though, that might work. Try it and let me know how it goes!
Hi shersmelley, Food color might work for making alcohol ink, though you probably would need to use the more concentrated gels rather than the liquid you get at the grocery store, otherwise I think the color would be too weak. It wouldn't hurt to try it though if you have the supplies around your home. As far as amounts, always start with small amounts of each supply and add a little of whatever you think you need more of. Making up recipes is always trial and error. But that's the fun part!
I've been looking into making my own alcohol inks/sprays to use in paper crafts and this was the first video/tutorial I've seen that mentions using the fabric dyes such as Rit...which is really quite a brilliant idea! I think for use on paper, this would give me much better results than the other tutorials I've seen which just look like watered down paint...but I'm sure each variety serves it's purpose. So...all that to say...thank you for a different perspective and a great video explaining the process and applications of these. And interesting from a non-polymer clay artists perspective :)
I am just starting to learn about alcohol Inks, and have found a lot of tutes on gloss paper and tiles, and they speak of blending fluid, I suspect that it is Isopropyl and I think I picked up somewhere that it has glycerin in it. Would you know, and if this is correct and how much glycerin. Many thanks. I work with PC, but have found very few tutes using alcohol ink.
I wonder if it would mess up the chemical balance of the resin and not cause it to set. Definitely worth testing. If you try it, let us know if it works!
Not wanting to go on a chemistry tangent but isopropyl alcohol is not very polar. You might try denatured alcohol. It is ethanol with methanol added to make it undrinkable. It is more polar and dissolved more water soluble stuff than isopropyl alcohol. I make my own acrylic paint reducer that basically 20% denatured alcohol in water with surfactant which breaks down surface tension letting me airbrush water based acrylics.
Go on all the chemistry rants you want to! I am all about learning so if it is a chemistry rant that gives us the answers than that is just fine with me! 🤓 Thanks for the tips about the denatured alcohol. I will have to get some and test it out myself!
if you look on the side of the Ranger bottles, you will see that they contain ethanol, propylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol in them. Ethanol is the same as denatured alcohol. I sent for the ppg, but have not figured out the proportions yet. I have procion dyes which are much more concentrated than the Rit dye is. If you get too much ppg, which I sent for thru Amazon, it makes it greasy, so it must not take very much. I think it's a binder.
have to use HOT water, really hot, it melts the sludge and then it mixes with the water and alcohol
I had great luck making my own alcohol inks using food coloring allow continence of each color of food coloring to air dry then after add alcohol works great and got great intense color and its very cheep I can find four colors in a pack at the dollar store
Hollie, had no idea to try to buy food coloring at the $ store. Terrific idea!
Thank you for illustrating a possible problem with liquid RIT dye. I have seen the dye process used with hot water to dilute or blend the dye, so now I will use your adding alcohol after melted.
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After watching your tutorial on UA-cam I would skip the hassle and buy the commercial inks. I love all your tutorials, I am completely new to this and watching you is the only way I have been able to learn not only how to make things but also what I needed to get started so I didn't go out and spend a ton of money until I knew if I would like this medium! And so far I'm enjoying shaping the clay and painting it and putting all your great tips and ideas to use. I used to take ceramic classes years ago when my kid's were young but that was in the eighties and nineties. Now you can't find anyone who does classes anymore and since I made many things and loved painting the ceramics, I thought polymer clay might be something similar I would enjoy and on the plus side I can do it anytime in my own home w/ just an oven instead of relying on someone having a kiln in there basement to fire my creations! Lol Wow times have changed but for the good. I actually love the polymer clay a 100% better than the old ceramics. Keep doing the tutorials for beginner's, it's like having my own private teacher right at home and you do an Awesome job on all your tutorials!!!!!!! Thanks again, Maureen Q.
Thank you Maureen for your lovely comments! You should make sure to check out our blog at www.polymerclaytutor.com There is lots more information there and you can sign up for the newsletter. Polymer clay is a fabulous medium to work with. Glad you have come along for the ride!
I tried making the alcohol ink using professional Procion MX dyes. I think it would be worth your while to order the sample kit I mentioned in my previous comment and giving it a try. I used less than one quarter of a quarter teaspoon... an amount that is really hard to measure. I put the dry granules into about 1 1/2 ounces of alcohol. The mix was instantly a vibrant turquoise. There was a little residue in the bottom of the bottle (maybe the salt you mention... though I don't think it's actual salt). The color was a beautiful turquoise on paper. I did not have any white polymer clay to try it out on (and I don't do much polymer clay anymore so I probably won't be using it for that) but it was a good enough test to believe that anyone who does polymer (or wants alcohol ink for any other reason) might want to give this a try. I don't buy those samplers I mentioned anymore but I buy turquoise, fuchsia and yellow with which I can make any other colors. For less than the price of 6 bottles of the Adirondack alcohol ink you could be set to make - at a guess - gallons of alcohol ink of many many colors.
Thanks for coming back and letting us know your results bunnidotcom ! That is very interesting!
Thanks for the tip!
Where can I get this dye from?
I used coloured sharpie markers and alcohol from the dollar store (I'm pretty sure it's 70%). My colours aren't super rich but they are vibrant. I think I used too much alcohol per pen. It still works for colouring the surface of the clay, but I would make it more concentrated if you're colouring the clay itself. I used the ink from a regular ball-point pen in alcohol to make a black ink which is extremely black!
So going to try using my vast Procion and Acid Dye lots from Dharma Trading. Hint on using dye powder. You can use Urea (Sheeps urine in ball form) to mix your powder into a liquid paste. The urea desolves removing powder for tie dye or fabric dying, so you don't have bursts of powder while dying. It should work for this technique as well. I would add a bit more dye, so you don't loose your intensity.
Hi Miina87, a good online shop with everything you could possibly need for polymer clay is called Polymer Clay Express. I'd give you the link but UA-cam doesn't allow links in comments. Good ink brands to try are Pinata Inks and Adirondack Inks. Good luck, I hope you find what you need!
Thanks for the tip Lilmeemers! My guess is that there is a little water in the weaker strength of Alcohol, which would make sense for why it works. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video - I tried it and it really works as you showed. I have a question about making "shades" of colour - like the "mushroom" colour Adirondack Inks has - can we DIY shades of brown for example? What might be the ratio if it can be done?
I mixed the Rit with a small amount of water and aloe hand sanitizer (contains 65% alcohol, glycol, glycerine, aloe, and a few other things).
Half alcohol and half dye made a dark gray color that faded to an even lighter shade when I tested it on a white waxed cupcake paper cup.
Thinking about buying some gunmetal colored fine holographic glitter for it to make it more interesting since I doubt it will get darker even with the rest of the dye.
Hi Yamamoto Tsunetomo, you should be able to use it on wood, but I would do some test swatches first. You may need to use a wood conditioner first, to get the ink on evenly. Google that to learn more.
Are the homemade versions working on metals.
Hi cfosterarm, I haven't tried food color, but your could. Let us know how it turns out, if you try it. Thanks for commenting!
Heating up the rubbing alcohol might help the dye mix in better, but I wouldn't like the fumes. It is already pretty smelly and evaporates fast. Heating it up would make it worse I think.
Yeah I have seen people make alcohol ink with Sharpies and stuff. You're right about there not being any gunk with that method. I would have a hard time sacrificing my nice pens for that though. Even if it were cheaper in the long run. I think in that case I would just use the ink directly from the pen rather than make a bottle of ink with it. It is a cool concept though.
Well I made some alcohol ink with Rit dye tonight and tried it on leather. While I didn't get the sludge in the container (I used 1 tsp. dye and 6 tsp. alcohol), it took almost 3 application on the test piece before it started looking like the dark green on the bottle. However, the Adirondack inks and the Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens worked great. Thanks for the info and if I need to use this on paper or fabric it will work great!
Yes I have been tempted to try and make my own alcohol inks for some time. But after watching your video, I am going to spare myself of the trouble and just buy beautiful colors from Adirondack Alcohol Ink.
- Thank you so much :)
Hi Crystal Ham, you may be onto something with the vinegar. Why don't you try it and let us know if it works? You've got my curious as well!
I tried an alcohol ink dye mix online I saw with food coloring, and it was still watered down and weak, but I mixed a water color, the kind that comes in a tube you add the water to, but you have to add the water as well, and I could control the concentration of dark to light and got a blend effect, I leaving it on a piece of raw clay over night to see if its going to effect the clay, get brittle, sticky, or what have you, so I will see how it goes in the morning
That sounds interesting stephanie Rae I would love to hear how your experiments went!
I am so very happy that I watched your video today. For me making my own is out! Your examples were very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do this video.
Have you tried mixing the powder or the liquid with hot water instead? Maybe it would dissolve the dyes so you wouldn't have as much sludge in the mixture. Let me know if you think that might help. I was wanting to try this but have not yet.
plan on making my own but with markers and alcohol. found your use with polymer clay interesting...like the earrings.
One of the reasons I haven't already tried this was because I anticipated the home made inks would not be as good a quality in colour as the commercial inks. As I use inks primarily for stamping and that quality was fairly good, I think I will give it a try. Good information here. Thanks!
I like both. Thanks so much. I think I am going to go with the posder. Seems less messy and easier to deal with...all the way around. I really enjoyed your video.
if the colors aren't vibrant enough can I make it more intense by using 2 parts ritz to 5 parts alcohol?
I would use the home made ink for fabric printing, an stick with the commercial inks for the clay as you suggested.
Maybe if you mix the liquid rit with water before you mix the alcohol it would mix better? Just a suggestion.
that's what I did. I mixed the powder with hot wAter and made it a tad darker then I wanted so when I mixed it with alcohol in spray bottle it was perfect. it does settle after few days you'll have to shake bottle back n forth NOT up n down (you'll clog sprayer) to mix it up everytime you use it. but I love it. I mix in perfect pearls or translucent medium(lil goes long way, too much clogs sprayer) to make it glittery. my son helps me says we're mad scientists, he's made lovely colors
beforehand anyone says anything. we wear masks and gloves. I do not let him actually play with dye. he is the color tester he sprays the inks and tells me whether or not it needs more color/glitter. we have a great time Regardless he's 10 years old and we're in a well ventilated area
I make my owm alcohol ink as well. If you like glitter or pearly inks, I have used Dollar Tree eyeshadow. For me it is about saving $ wherever I can; but still enjoying the process (and products) of making beautiful art.
Stamp pad ink is very strong and works well mixed with the alcohol.
i have pure pigment liquid in the primary colours,u mix it with a medium to turn it into fabric ink for screenprinting,it is water based.i dont have much money so do u think these will work?
I am new to inks and doing a search and saw this, I am surely going to try this, any other ideas for beginners
Did you ever think of trying mixing the alcohol with the powdered egg dye used in Eastern Europe for egg decorating (the famous Pysanky)? You might have a nice surprise waiting for you there. I personally just use watercolor and use alcohol instead of water on them. If you choose the proper kind of watercolors - and they can be found at the dollar stores - you get awesome stuff
I liked your example, for me i think i would use both depending on project , there are some colors i use much more then others so those would help to cut cost with the home made.TFS
hello Cindy I think I might like to make my own only BC iam going to be useing them on paper or tags so that paper too not clay thank you so much please let me know when you have other videos ..thnak you MaryR,
Being water soluble, would it mix better adding the water and mixing first?? Just curious.
I was interested in trying to make my own..with the exact products ... I am so very thankful that i watched this first as i would not be satisfied with the results just as you were not... I will stick with store bought brands. So glad i watched your video first!
Thank you so much for this video.
I am a newbie to polymer clay. Have only ever worked with PMC so I have much to learn and am so thankful for your tutorials.
Kindest Regards,
Cheryl
It looks like the homemade inks would be great for paper crafting, since they're vibrant on paper. Will try the Procion MX dye technique suggested by bunnidotcom, as I have a lot of it. Looks like the commercial ink works much better for the polyclay. Plan to try this for the holidays on cards and decorations.
Fantastic channel. Well done! We truly liked it.
Thanks from a fellow Canadian that dreams of lots of travel in the future! (I checked out your channel and just had to subscribe! Couldn't resist the urge to travel along with you guys!) :)
Hi there, I'm a art student and I use the commercial inks, I do need something with more bulk, so I'm going to try this "recipe" out. How would it work with gesso?
where do you buy those bottles for $4? I know some people say it works great if you use 91% alcohol and other people use cheap felt pens from the dollar store into the alcohol but I haven't tried any yet. I imagine what you made would be great on acetate.
+Dorothy wintschel: thats how I have been making alcohol inks for over 5 years, they are very expensive to buy in Australia, and when I first started making them I could not even get them. The colour is brilliant and they last for years. I have even successfully tried liquid food dyes! but I would never use Rit or Dylon to dye ANYTHING because they are made to dye everything so only a small part of the dye bonds to the alcohol. I've also heard you can use the colour left over from toner cartridges from a colour laser printer to make inks, and you can grate up coloured pencil shavings. Just not universal dyes like Rit.
+Caroline Alexander Do you have a video or a blog Caroline? I would like to know your methods on how you have been doing this.
+u with not bonding. if that's a problem you can use a touch of gum Arabic or cheap hairspray into bottle
+u with not bonding. if that's a problem you can use a touch of gum Arabic or cheap hairspray into bottle
Hi, did you try making alcohol inks with coaches or acrylics??? I mean the paste colours not the dry ones or the blocks.
can i use the ink to put in blank markers to make my own colors?
There's another video by Jan Fox I believe where she takes sharpie markers apart and makes alcohol ink with those. They are permanent ink and a solvent so are stronger than the Rit Dye. I have Procion fabric dyes, but haven't tried using those, but they are much stronger than Rit, so they might work
After making the alcoholic ink, i wanna put it in a EMPTY marker, so, what percentage of ink and what makes it alil bit thicker? Do you know ?...I want it to be very pigmented and stay the same colors of it.
Hi madam i really appreciate ur efforts ! Can I use acrylic inks with alcohol to create alcohol inks ? Do they give the same fading and results ? Unfortunately they dont sale alcohol inks where I live 😢 thank u !!
I have some left-over powdered Proceon Fabric Dye from another class can I use these instead of Ritt Dye. What would be the mesurements please for this? Thank you
Wow Cindy this is awesome! I am going to have to try to make primary colors, I do a lot of polymer clay stuff but I was thinking of doing mixed media canvas which is why I bought alcohol ink to begin with, at least I know this method of making my own. I will definately try this when I run out of the stuff I bought. Thanks again for all your help.
Should other brands of fabric dyes work for this techniques?
Hi Cindy! Can you use Jacquard Acid Powder Dye and the Rubbing Alcohol?
Curious the difference in quality over time . Certainly making it is straight forward from your explaination . Also curious is watercolor ink vs alcohol ink just using water in place of rubbing alcohol. Or is it not same thing/quality for some reason?
Could u do this with food dye
Am going to try making some. I am going to use it for leather designs. Excited to try it. I just got some Adirondaks so we will how they work! Thanks
Would using food coloring instead of dye work? If so how would you go about figuring out the portions.
hi ya, just curious, why do you not just put the dye to the poly clay............ but thank you that was a lovely tutorial barb UK.............defo want to try my own, just bought and paid £2.35 or approx $3.50 per bottle.........way too expensive as it doesn't go too far unless you are doing a small project..................thanks for tips barb UK
Hi 👋🏻! Love the video. I was wondering if you knew how to make white alcohol ink for use in resin jewelry? Thank you!
whats your opinion on using sharpies to make alcohol ink for polymer clay?
have you ever tryed it?
I just found some old (but liquidy-vibrant) Peintex Fabric dye in the bottom of my craft box. Can I use these? And what would be the measurements please. Thanks
I made some with alcohol and what lies markers.Break open sharper marker and put middle color piece in small container of several parts alcohol shake and leave sit overnight.
Is this for fountain pens ? Or jewelry? Gerber baby spoon ?
Have you ever mixed food dye in with alcohol to make the paint
Hi. Can you use food colourant instead of fabric dye?. I have seen a few video tutorials that show how to make spray ink using a gel food colourant and water but, not alcohol.
I would think the food coloring would fade to ugly brown as it is a vegetable dye. I have used food coloring full strength with my pen and ink drawings and it always fades.
hi again :) i am wondering what the best way to colour a white polymer clay (particularly sculpey iii) or if it is better to paint on colours after baking?
thanks claire
Hi Claire Paul I just like to use colored clays, but there are tons of ways you can color white polymer clay. Alcohol inks, acrylic paints in small amounts, oil paints in small amounts, powdered pigments, chalks, bits of other colored clays, etc. Or you can paint your pieces with acrylics after it has been baked. Play around with different mediums and see which one you like best. Good luck!
can you please advise how to make white ink
hello what caint of markers at use.alcohol markers or with water
How would you make white alcohol ink?
commercial alcohol inks are made with ethyl alcohol. now available at Walgreens in a 70% solution. rit dye has a brightener that may work as far as vibrancy.
Dyes for fabric use a mordant to create a chemical bond. With plant fibers what is used are actually two links to get it to bond. Wool or silk are proteins which need only one link to bond.
Rit dyes are made up to dye EITHER plant or protein based fiber. The stuff that wouldn't mix in is probably metal salts which are the mordants that bond the dye.
Why does this matter? Because one year later the dye has faded and become grey or brownish. It is oxidizing with the air or changing due to UV exposure.
Presumably commercial dye based inks have taken this into account and have the needed mordant to make the dye bond.
Food for thought.
Homemade, can it be made from Acrylic paint and water and alcohol?
Where did you go? I just discovered your channel and can't get enough...
Thank you for your kind words! We stepped away for what was supposed to be a short while, to upgrade our website and business and it has taken way longer than expected. We shouldn't be too much longer now, before we are back.
For using with TRANSLUSCENT polyclays these look great.
That die is supposed to be used with WATER? Like in the washing machine.... that is what I used when I used these dies with fabric... please correct me if I'm wrong... ;)
Using homemade inks v bought inks: would the homemade have the same lightfastness as bought product? In the long-term, would the intensity of colour last as long in the homemade variety? Just curious!!
I have some Rit dye around the house, tend to use Procion for dyeing clothes now. So I will be making some alcohol inks! Thank you.
I don't think it would be worth making your own this way... glad your did the tutorial so I wouldn't waste my time or effort doing it
where in canada can i get adaronack inks
Michaels, Amazon, and shadesofclay.com/2-new-sets-adirondack-alcohol-inks/
What is the pasta machine used for
Have you used the homemade ink on baked pieces? Is the color more vibrant then as opposed to mixing it in the raw clay first?
Hi mamamonster yeah it's not really more vibrant on baked piece either. The best alcohol ink for vibrancy is the commercially made ones, I'm afraid.
does the alcohol ink make you feel woozy/headachy at all?