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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Colored Tyvek, Coloring Tyvek with Acrylic Ink

A recent post on the Chewing with the Paper Chipmunk blog described coloring some Tyvek to make some miniature books. Paper Chipmunk says:


"My favorite way of decorating Tyvek is to use a foam cosmetic sponge dipped in acrylic ink. I then evenly smooth the color over the Tyvek, rubbing it in with the foam sponge. ...
Blue Colored Tyvek, Tyvek Coloring with Paint
Rubbing an even layer of the ink into the Tyvek brings out the patterns of its non-woven fibers. And one of the nicest things about acrylic ink is that it doesn't leave any discernible texture or tackiness--perfect for book pages. It just soaks into the Tyvek."

Check out the photos of the colored Tyvek and the miniature book made with the blue colored Tyvek. (Click photos to enlarge for detail.) Nice work Paper Chipmunk!
Blue Colored Tyvek Book
Many thanks to the Paper Chipmunk, info and photos used with permission.
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6 comments:

  1. Douglas Kohn, www.MaterialConcepts.comApril 2, 2010 at 9:36 AM

    I concur! Acrylic ink soaks into the Tyvek and dries almost instantly. It's amazing because once the acrylic is dry, you absolutely can not feel it. It's as if it becomes part of the Tyvek. Great topic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2016 at 1:57 AM

      How many ounces of ink should I buy to dye an 8'x10' piece of Tyvek?

      Delete
  2. Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen)April 2, 2010 at 4:40 PM

    Thanks--glad you liked my Tyvek post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. pilgrimAugust 30, 2010 at 3:34 PM

    Great job! Do you think acrylic will work with Soft Tyvek too??
    I always wanted to dye Tyvek.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  4. Douglas Kohn, www.MaterialConcepts.comAugust 30, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    @pilgrim
    acrylic does work with soft Tyvek, but not nearly as nicely as it does the more traditional paper like Tyvek styles. I've seen RIT dye used on soft Tyvek, but I wouldn't recommend it as the process is extremely messy and the results vary. As an example, if you were to dye soft Tyvek with RIT in navy blue color, the result would be a light blue with no uniformity of color. I'm also not sure about colorfastness - test for colorfastness if you're planning on experimenting with RIT!

    Thanks for you comments!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Douglas Kohn, www.MaterialConcepts.comMarch 14, 2016 at 10:32 AM

    Hi Anonymous :)
    Thanks for your question regarding dying Tyvek.
    We don't have first hand experience dying Tyvek and I'm sorry to say we can't offer specific advice as to how many ounces of dye you may need to cover the 8'x10' Tyvek sheet. It's important to note that Tyvek will resist absorbing water, and thus will resist absorbing dye. We would recommend dyeing a small sample of Tyvek so that you will know what results you can expect. Tyvek being hydrophobic makes it almost impossible to achieve uniformity when using dyes. How much dye you'll need will depend on the richness of the color you're trying to achieve.
    Good luck and let us know how it goes!

    ReplyDelete

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