Turn Your Acrylic Paints Into Fabric Paint

This acrylic medium turns any acrylic paint into a fabric paint which can be brushed, airbrushed, or screen-printed onto fabric. It leaves the fabric soft and, if heat set, can be washed as normal.

Pros

• Turns any acrylic paint into fabric paint
• Fabric paint created leaves fabric soft
• Various ways to heat set the fabric paint

Cons

• Must be heat set in a well-ventilated area (read health warning on label)
• May not be available in smaller art shops
• Not recommended for use by children

Description

• GAC900 is manufactured by Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
• A white ‘acrylic polymer emulsion’ which you mix 1:1 with acrylic paints to create fabric paint.
• An 8-ounce container with a handy nozzle, but also available in larger containers.
• Can be heat set in four ways. The easiest is probably by ironing for several minutes.
• Heat set by curing in an oven for four minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit or one to two minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Heat set in a domestic clothes dryer set on high for 40 to 50 minutes.
• Warning: Must be used in a well-ventilated area as releases low levels of formaldehyde during setting.

Tips for Using Your Own Fabric Paint

As anyone who’s ever got some acrylic paint on their clothes knows, acrylic paint doesn’t wash out easily but it makes the fabric hard. The GAC900 Medium from Golden Artist Colors solves this. Mixing it in with an equal quantity of acrylic paint turns your acrylics into fabric paint that leaves the fabric soft and pliable. If heat set, it can be washed as normal. It can be used with any brand of acrylics, not only Golden.

If you store the fabric paint you’ve created in small, airtight containers, it’ll stay usable for quite some time. So, not only can you now use any of the huge variety of acrylic colors available as fabric paints, but you needn’t buy separate fabric and acrylic paints. If you work in both acrylics and fabric paints, it’s indispensable.