The Great Fabric Medium Experiment, Part I

So, after the disaster that was last month's Halloween costumes (post-wash), I began to wonder whether my issues with fabric medium were a function of the specific brands I used, the brands of paint I used, the mixing proportions, or something else. My craft paint stash includes Apple Barrel, Folk Art, Martha Stewart, and Americana colors. The various fabric medium containers I've read have suggested anything from a 3:1 to a 1:1 paint to medium mixture, and some might have even suggested flipping the proportions (1 part fabric medium to 2 or 3 parts paint). Some instruct you to heat set with an iron or a press; others say you can toss your (dry) t-shirt in the dryer. Potentially crucially, a couple brands also suggest you let the heat-set paint cure for up to a week before washing, and/or to not let heat-set hand-painted fabrics anywhere near the dryer.

If this sounds confusing, you're not alone.

And just in case you were thinking it was just a fabric medium labeling issue... I'm pretty sure some of those mixing ratios should change with the initial thickness of the paint one is using (less fabric medium with thinner paints, more with thicker ones). In addition to CraftSmart, Americana, Folk Art, and Martha Stewart craft paints, we sell Liquitex acrylic ink, BASICS paint, soft body paint, and heavy body paint; we sell Golden High Flow, Fluid, and Heavy Body colors, along with Golden's GAC-900 fabric medium.

In the end, what I need to know is how much fabric medium, if any, to add to what type of paint, for the best effect — and what sort of after-painting treatment to use for anything I intend to wear more than once (or anything that needs to not fall like cardboard). So like any self-respecting person with an engineering degree (and full STEAM ahead), I'm going to experiment. I'm gathering a selection of my existing supplies, purchasing an array of fabric mediums, adding in some professional-level paints and artist inks for good measure, and using a leftover T-shirt or two as a canvas (excuse the pun) on which to test these paints and fabric mediums methodically. The result will be a sort of paint patch-test which I can then use as a reference for future fabric painting.