Homemade Bubble Jet Set Solution Tutorial

I can imagine some of you asking, "What in the world is Bubble Jet Set Solution?!".  In a nutshell, it is a treatment used on fabric to make it colorfast and printable.  Now, why did I hunt this technique down in the first place?  And why am I sharing it on my blog?  Well, first thing's first.  I think those of us familiar with store bought colorfast printable fabric know that it has the consistency of lightweight cardboard.  Not something anyone wants to snuggle up to.  Here is an example of a printing done on store bought colorfast printable fabric...
 

 

How wonderfully vibrant in color!  However, this particular quilt top (made for my kids' preschool teacher) has twenty-four 4" x 5" blocks, which makes for a VERY stiff quilt.  Bummer.  I happen to have another photo quilt project I am working on and I wanted to find a softer colorfast fabric... enter Bubble Jet Set.

 

Now, Bubble Jet Set is the trademark name of the colorfast solution found on the Internet.  It is also available in stores, but I have yet to find it where I live. It costs around $16.00 per 32 oz. bottle.  It promotes colorfast fabric that FEELS like fabric.  SQUEEEEAAAAL!  However, I needed it sooner than later.  Soooo.... I found several recipes on how to make my own Bubble Jet Set for a fraction of the cost.  I bought what I needed (cost: around $9.00) and set up a chemistry lab in my kitchen.  Bwahaha!  And you know what?  I am THRILLED with the results!  So I had to share this infamous secret with you.  On with the tutorial...
 

 

Most of the recipes I found had the exact same ingredients and amounts:

 

Homemade Bubble Jet Set Solution

2 Tbls. Alum (found in the spices aisle)                    

2 1/2 tsp. Washing Soda (found in the laundry aisle)

1/2 tsp. Liquid Fabric Softener (NOTE: THE GAIN     

        SHOWN ABOVE IS FABRIC SOFTENER, NOT DETERGENT!)

1 cup HOT tap water                                              

large bowl                                                            

100% cotton fabric in white or cream                      

      (FYI: It has been said in several articles that this solution
works best on 100% cotton fabrics.)
 

Mix alum, washing soda, liquid fabric softener and hot water together in a bowl big enough to accommodate your fabric.  Let it settle for 15 minutes.
 

 

Stir again to make sure everything is dissolved.  It should resemble the picture shown above.  Dip and stir fabric with your hands to evenly coat the fabric.  I played around with it for about 5 minutes.
 

 

Let fabric set for 15 minutes.  Wring out the excess solution and save for later in a marked, air proof container.  (A little goes a long way!) Note: The left over solution will seperate... just give it a good shake before you use it again. 
 

 

 

Rinse the fabric in cool water.  Now, I forgot to rinse mine... (insert sheepish look here).  But, no worries.  It still worked out!  Hang the fabric to dry or cheat and put it in the dryer like I did. =)

 

Now that we have the Colorfast Fabric, let's see how well it works with printing!

 

Lightly press the treated fabric.  Using a dry iron on a cotton setting, adhere waxed Freezer Paper (found near the Ziploc bags in the store) to the fabric.  Cut 8 1/2" x 11" sheets out of papered fabric.  Re-press to insure that the paper is firmly attached to the fabric, especially around the edges.
 

 

Now we are ready to print!  You MUST use an ink jet printer.  Laser printers will not work!  Figure out the finished size you want your image to be and make allowances to that measurement for seams.  Set your ink jet printer to Best print setting (if available).  I suggest you use the original picture when copying, if possible.  This insures the clearest printing.  Or use a photo straight off your computer.  Load the papered fabric into the printer like you would a normal piece of paper.

 

 

And here's Audrey in all her glory fresh off the press!  While you can use color photos, black and white has much less bleeding and fading.  Let the ink set into the fabric for at least 20 minutes.  I left mine to set for half the day... only because a little thing called life got in the way!  Sigh...  Peel the freezer paper off the back of your printed fabric.  Fill your kitchen sink with about 2 inches of luke warm water mixed with a small splash of liquid fabric softener.  Liquid fabric softener works as a mild detergent.  This step is a must if you want minimal bleeding and fading when/if you wash your finished project.
 

 

As you can see, up around my fingers, the extra ink is bleeding out.  This is a good thing and to be expected.  Agitate lightly through the rinse for a few minutes.  I used the same rinse water for all four of my fabric sheets with no problems.  My water was a very murky shade of grey in the end... but my pictures still look pretty amazing!
 

 

Place the fabric image side up on a towel.  Blot fabric gently with a towel to absorb excess water. 
 

 

With a dry iron on a cotton setting, gently press the fabric, image side up. This will evaporate any remaining water. Cut your images to the desired size. (Remember those seam allowances!) I am so pleased with my Audrey images! While the fabric isn't quite as supple as it was originally, it is pretty close.  And a hundred times better than the store bought colorfast fabric sheets.  And... my hands smell wonderfully like lavendar. Bonus!
 

 

Now you are ready to sew your customized fabric into something wonderfully unique and amazing!  What am I going to do with my darling images of Audrey?  Well... that's for another time and post! =)