There are so many innovative uses that a printer can be put to that it’s a source of constant surprise for us that people only use their inkjet printers for their simple primary purposes i.e. printing paper for educational or official purposes.
This is part of the reason why our last few posts have been devoted to teaching our customers all the innovative uses of their inkjet printers.
We’ve already covered things like printing tissue paper, printing posters, printing business cards, and even printing Papercraft models. But, if you notice, all of these things are still paper based. You can use your inkjet printer for printing on materials other than paper too. For instance, here, we’ll teach you the method behind printing burlap.
How Printing Burlap Helps You
If you’re not the artsy – crafty kind, then you’re most probably wondering how printing burlap can be helpful to you. With a little bit of creativity, printing burlap can give your home a very unique look.
Yes, printing burlap’s primary purpose is decorative. You print a sheet of burlap with a few interesting words or simple graphics and you can have an ornamental piece that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
In fact, burlap based decorations are rare as it is. It adds a rustic element to any home décor. It can add to the overall traditional style or provide a counterpoint to contemporary or modern styles.
So, how do you go about printing burlap? After all, since inkjet printers are made for papers how can you put burlap through them? Here’s a step by step guide to printing burlap that should help.
Step 1: Decide On What You Want To Print and Design It
When printing burlap, you can’t just put anything on it. Burlap will always give that rustic or rural look. Effectively, whatever you put on a piece of burlap will have to be related to that look and feel.
For instance, you can put a nice loving message for your family or even the whole mankind.
You could something food related or even something laundry related. You could put a nice message or a definition.
In terms of images, you can put things like simple drawings of rural settings, windmills, weathervanes, cottages, sawmills, etc. Whatever you pick, make sure that it resonates with your personality as well as your home décor.
The designing element can be created on your choice of software programme. These could include photo editing software programs and even word processing software programmes.
Step 2: Get a Piece of Burlap, Iron It, and Cut It
Once you have the design ready, you need to prepare the piece of burlap. Pick the right size first. Different inkjet printers can handle different sizes of paper. At the very least, your printer should be able to handle an A4 sheet of paper.
This means that your burlap can, at least, be of the same size as an A4 sheet of paper. Get a piece of burlap and cut it into the right size. Now, you need to iron it so that creases and bent corners can be removed.
Step 3: Make the Piece of Burlap Stiff With Freezer Paper
The secret to printing burlap with your inkjet printer is freezer paper. The purpose of freezer paper here is to give the burlap enough stability, so that it can come through the inkjet printer without folding or jamming.
While freezer paper isn’t easily available, it can still be found. If you can’t find freezer paper at all, you can make it at home too.
Once you have your freezer paper, you have to stick it to the piece of burlap. Put the freezer paper shiny side down on the piece of burlap and then run an iron over it on medium setting. This will cause the freezer paper to stick to your burlap.
Step 4: Send Them through the Inkjet Printer
All you need to do now is send this burlap-freezer paper construct through your inkjet printer burlap side up. After printing burlap with your prepared design, the last thing to do would be to wait for the ink to dry and then take off the freezer paper.
You can use the result of this printing burlap effort in myriad ways too. You can pin it to a piece of Styrofoam, frame it, and then put it up. You can hang the burlap as it is. You can even combine it with other decoration pieces in your home.
Patti says
These look great. Did you set your printer to glossy Photo paper, presentation paper or regular paper?
Shaleen says
Hi Patti,
It all depends on the type of burlap you use. The quality varies in various places. We suggest trying all settings on small pieces of burlap before deciding on a single one.
Thanks for dropping by.