Procion Manutex Mix is a process that you can apply in different ways. In my case I used this process to paint onto fabric with brushes so I could keep the texture of the brush strokes. The paste is a thick consistency when being painted on to the fabric. After you have created your desired design whether you painted it on by hand or pulled it through a screen you must wait for it to dry fully before the next step. I then used the heat press set to a temperature of 120 degrees to heatpress the fabric for 10 minutes. This then sets the dye into the fabric. After you have done that you need to rinse the fabric in cold water for 2-5 minutes making sure the excess dye is washes away. You then leave the fabric to soak in warm water for 10 minutes. After that rinse the fabric again in cold water making sure the water runs clear before you stop. You can then leave your fabric to dry and it is ready for you to do whatever you like with it.
I found this way of creating really fun as I did not need to coat up a screen with a design I was free to just paint what I wanted straight onto the fabric. The colours turn out very similar to how they look when you paint them on so you have a better idea of what it will look like when it is finished.
The only downside to this process is that the procion manutex mix is at its best for roughly 4/6 hours. This means the pigment is at its strongest then. As time goes on the pigment gets weaker so the colours are less strong and some of the lighter brush marks may get washed out.
The pictures show below are of my hand painted silks. You can see that the fabric really picks up on every brush mark and grey areas.
This picture shows a sample that i made using an exposed screen. I pulled the procion manutex through the screen just like you would with any other paste.
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