Fabric Colours

Fabric Colours

Fabric paint is acrylic reformulated to stay flexible, so it bends with the cloth instead of cracking off it. That flexibility is the whole difference, and it is why ordinary acrylic on a t-shirt fails at the first wash.

What to know before you start

Transparent fabric colours behave like dye and glow on white or pale cloth but disappear on dark. Opaque colours sit on the surface and are what you need for black denim or coloured canvas. Almost every fabric colour needs heat setting once dry, usually a few minutes with a dry iron under a cloth, and skipping that step is the single most common reason painted fabric washes out.

Wash and dry new cloth first to remove sizing, and stretch it flat so the paint does not wick along the weave.

We stock fabric colours from Pebeo, Pidilite Fevicryl, Brustro and Jacquard. See also acrylic colours and brushes. Stationerie, Kolkata, 25 years in art materials, shipped across India.