Monday, September 19, 2011

Revisiting a former technique, this time using "wipes"

Back in 2008, I showed some paper towels I dyed based on information I found on Sharon McAllister's blog. She called the technique "Dyed Kitchen Paper." Thanks to my friends in England (Sharon lives in London), I know that "kitchen paper" is what we in the States call paper towels. Directly in the center of these Viva paper towels (the smaller piece above) was a handy wipe that I was a bit disappointed with: disappointed because it didn't display the bubbly effect that was evident on the paper towels.

It was because of this tutorial and my revised technique that I decided to make a few more of these, only this time I would not use kitchen paper/paper towels, but the handy wipes instead. After all, they are already wet, so I didn't even need to saturate them, as one normally needs to do when using paper towels.


Materials needed for this project:
Any kind or brand of disinfecting or baby wipe as long as it is still moist
Microwave friendly plate


Any brand of color wash (I chose some I was trying to get rid of)
Protective glove(s)
Microwave oven (not shown)


I probably should not have used all my yellow and green on this project, because these are really bright and beautiful colors, unlike the vintage ones I didn't use on these wipes.

In short, here is what I did:

1. Making sure your wipes are still saturated with moisture, spritz two or more spray ink colors on each disinfecting wipe.
2. Before moving the wipe, put on protective gloves. These inks stain badly!
3. To make the technique work, you must use two wipes, one on top of the other. I sprayed both. It appears the moisture from the two is needed for this technique to work properly (see photo above).
4. Set your microwave (mine is 1100 watts) to one minute and zap.
5. Turn wipes over and zap for another full minute. By that time, my wipes were nearly dry.
6. Remove plate from microwave using a potholder. Your plate will be very hot, so be careful.


Although these need ironing, I think they are gorgeous. And, unlike paper towels, these can actually pass for fabric and won't tear in the event you want to use them for pockets in your fabric pages. I am adding these to my tutorials page because they are different from the paper towel technique I used before. Have fun making these, but be warned. They are highly addictive.

21 thoughtful remarks:

Cath Wilson said...

Ooh, they look good. Might just have to try it out. Thank you for the clear instructions :-)

Becca said...

They look so cool! I might have to try this!

Unknown said...

I am LOVING these colors- thanks for sharing the technique!

Dianne said...

How easy are these??? Even I can do this! Thanks!

elle said...

Elizabeth, what does the microwave do? Would air drying and heat setting work?

Dianne said...

wow, these turned out great. love the pocket idea! yet another excellent technique...thank you!

Cathy L. Calamas said...

great tutorial!! thx for sharing.

Marit said...

I love the effect, but I don't have a microwave... so I have the same question as Elle - would air drying give the same effect? Oh well, I guess I could try... I might! THanks for the great tutorial!

Rebeca Trevino said...

thanks Elizabeth for a great tutorial.
what a wonderful effect these have. . . i think i could use these on my boxes. . . do the papers lay flat when applied to a canvas

ps: do you have any projects you could share with us in photos? i would love to see how these papers lay down.

thanks again, i will let you know how it goes.

Craftymoose Crafts said...

These are really pretty. Just like potato chips? You can't just make one! LOL!

Julia Dunnit said...

Ahem. I LOVE these. They are the sort of thing I would actually try! Now, I just need to get over the hurdle of not having a microwave oven. I feel very deprived!

Healing Woman said...

Oh my gosh! These really are gorgeous! I have just got to try making them. I can think of tons of ideas for them. I love the colors you ended up with, even though you may have depleted the yellow and green.

Jo Murray said...

This is a technique I just have to try... thanks!

~*~Patty S said...

wonderful colors and play
now did I read this right ... you are microwaving bleach!

I will have to give these a try with air dry method too...no microwave at our house

you sure got some inspiring results E
oxo

nerllybird said...

These look lovely. Is there any difference between baby wipes and disinfectant wipes, in terms of the chemicals already in them and how they react in the microwave or with the inks?

Just out of interest, I've never heard of kitchen paper before - in our house we call it 'kitchen roll' which is how it's usually labelled in the supermarket as well. Some of it is quite thick, and I wonder if it would be more resilient than the thin, cheap stuff, if it was used in a book?

Darla said...

Another interesting technique. I wonder what role the microwave plays. I wonder if you could just let them dry. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, you are so generous about that.

Darla

thekathrynwheel said...

These look wonderful - the colours are gorgeous. Thanks for the tutorial, and also for clearing up the confusion over kitchen towel / paper towel, I've been confused over that previously! x

Halle said...

Oh...somehow I missed this! They are gorgeous! So is that what an iron is for?? Crafting? Good to know. :)

Diane said...

Just love this!

Jill said...

This reminds me of dying coffee filters and we had so much fun doing that. I agree that this would be addictive.

Martha Marshall said...

Another fun thing from the kitchen, with beautiful results! I have the same microwave question as everyone else has voiced. Wonder if a heat gun would work the same.