Taking the Mystery out of Marbling.
Marbling is a very entertaining hobby and a productive one as well. You will be surprised how easy it is to do and to get great results. It’s also cost effective and it doesn’t cost and arm and a leg.
What you need to start off with:
1/Alum,
2/Caragem solution,
3/A large tray, EG like you would use for photography or kitty litter. Even a disposable aluminium foil tray would work; it’s thrown away after you are finished with it.
4/You also need two marbling combs, with teeth aprox 1.5cm and 2 cm apart.
Check out the hair comb section in the shops.
5/White spirits bought from the chemist.
6/One Eye Dropper for using to drop in white spirits.
7/Fabric marbling inks, 3 different colours.
8/ A bucket or laundry sinks to rinse out the fabric.
9/ Newspaper,
10/Disposable plastic cups,
11/ A garbage bin,
12/ Thin wooden skewers,
13/ An old blender or mixer,
14/Fabric cut to the same measurements as the tray, Choose fabric that has a smooth surface, EG silk or polyester; do not use cottons which have a lot of starch in them such as poplin or calico.
Preparing the fabric for your marbling,
Always pre wash your fabric by hand or in your washing machine. Mix 50g of alum in 600ml of hot water and allow to cool. Dip the fabric after it’s washed into the solution and allow it to dry. Iron the fabric to remove any wrinkles so it’s ready to marble.
Preparing the Caragem solution,
Mixing 1 tablespoon of caragem solution with 300ml of hot water blend for 1 min in the blender, add 1 litre of hot water and continue to blend for another minute. This is the basic recipe. Please take care when blending with the hot water. Pour into your tray. The solution should be around 6cm thick. This will be the bed that you will marble on.
Preparing your marbling inks,
Squeeze about one teaspoon of ink out of the tube into a plastic cup. Using the eye dropper, add a small amount of white spirits to the dye so that the consistency becomes a runny cream.
PLEASE NOTE, white spirits burns, so please don’t get it on your skin.
So as not to get patchy ink when dropping it onto the caragem solution, you need to make sure the ink and white spirits are mixed really, really, well.
Prepare the three colours all in their separate cups.
Before starting,
Please wear old clothing that you don’t mind getting ink on. Get your tray and fill it with caragem, around 6 cm deep. Skim the surface with newspaper to remove air bubbles on the surface.
Have the dyes fabric combs, skewers, newspaper, garbage bin and bucket of water all in a handy position nearby.
Step 1
Using a skewer drop gently the ink onto your caragem bed surface. The ink should spread and hold its shape.
Step 2
Gently run the point of a clean skewer over the surface of the solution in rows of a parallel line. Repeat this motion across the tray working at right angles to the first lines, until you have created a pleasing pattern.
Step 3
It is easier for two people to place the fabric onto the tray. Hold one side of the fabric each and carefully lower the centre of the fabric down. Then lower the corners down until the fabric is floating on the surface.
Step4
Leave the fabric sitting for a 30 seconds or so on the ink. The ink should go straight into the fabric; denser fabric may take that little bit longer.
Step 5
Lift the corners of the fabric gently from the solution first then the rest will follow.
Step6
Lay the fabric on its back, the right side up on a bit of newspaper. The design is now onto your fabric.
Step7
This step is also handy if you have 2 people. The caragem solution needs to be rinsed off and can be done by moving the fabric backwards and forwards under the tap. Be careful not to have too much force and don’t let the fabric touch as ink is still wet. Now hang it to dry or you can lay it somewhere as well. To set the dye into the fabric to make it permanent it’s now ironed with a dry iron. PLEASE iron between some clean paper towels or butchers paper and throw away when dirty.
Lastly in a mild detergent wash your fabric to remove any residue and stiffness due to the dye and caragem.
Dry and use for any craft work that you have been preparing for.
Skimming,
To prepare the tray for the next batch of fabric, skim the surface of the solution with a folded piece of butcher’s paper or not to dirty piece of newspaper and moving it gently across the surface scoop up the dye residue. Throw it away.
Tip,
Be gentle handed and skewers are great instead of the dropper as not to be to heavy handed. The drops can be too big so the dye goes to the bottom of the tray and you won’t have any ink to pick up. It needs to float.
Fabric is an important choice as well and experimenting is fun. I have had really lovely results with cheesecloth and silk.
Now go and have a play.
Go and try these methods.
Swirling pattern B,
Using a polyester prepare fabric and get it already as previous instructions up to step2, Then move a skewer gently on the surface of the dye in a circular motion or in loops. Steps 3-5 work the dye till you are happy with your pattern then print of your fabric. Continue the steps as in A.
Combed pattern C,
With silk prepare as for step 1, then drop randomly dye from a skewer onto the surface, Step 2 with a comb in each hand let them draw onto the surface in a straight line, then with 1 comb go over again manoeuvring it across in a zig zag design. Add finishing touches with a skewer. Then finish off the rest of the steps as for A