Category Archives: Resist

Resistad a Wonderful Resist Made by John Mitchell

Resistad from New Zealand

https://www.procolour.co.nz/library.htm

 

A globally unique GUTTA RESIST SYSTEM for silk painting which:

  • is supplied in concentrate form.
  • can be coloured with neat or pastel dyes.
  • DOES NOT IMPAIR the LUSTRE or SOFTNESS of the silk.
  • can be APPLIED with conventional squeeze PIPETTE or SCREEN PRINTED etc.
  • can CONVERT metallic and other TEXTILE PAINTS INTO GUTTAS.

I love Resistad especially since I can no longer get large bottles of any solvent base resist as the postal service will not allow it to go by air and I live in Alaska. So like many I have been on the search for the perfect resist. I heard about Resistad from silk painters at The Silk Painting Network and  on SPIN facebook sharing their favorite resist.

I have heard different version as to how and why to set it before painting. So I wrote to the man who invented it John Mitchell. He graciously answered my questions and said I could share the information with you all.

Francine:

I love your resistad. I have read different instructions from various silk painters. I have heard it is recommended to steam set before painting on. I have always just ironed it. I have also heard some put it in the dryer first. Can you tell me what you recommend before painting with dyes? Thanks again for such a great product.

——————————————————————-

John:

Hi Francine,

Excellent question which strikes at the very heart of getting the most out of Resistad:

 

There are 2 Resistad needs which require fulfillment prior to coloring the resist design in with dye:

 

1. Transforming the Resistad gutta from being water based into being water resistant. This requires heat. This is a unique chemical mechanism which allows Resistad to be water based for easy utensil clean up etc, while at the same time, being water resistant, for great resist performance. Any heat appliance should be as good as the next for this heat setting job. However because of the human factor some heat setting methods prove less problematic and more thorough than others. So from worst to best:

a. iron..why? it’s very easy to miss or under do part of a painting. Also if the iron temperature is set too high it will brown the guar gum component in the gutta and make it very difficult to wash this stiffened guar out at the final painting rinse thus leaving the silk’s softness impaired.

b. Dryer…Though this would be a choice method for thoroughly meeting Resistad’s heat setting requirement. The one big drawback would only occur if the gutta has been colored with dye. Once a dryer is contaminated with dye particles it’s almost impossible to clean it, and these small dye particles always have the habit of spotting the most precious silks any time during the current or subsequent dryer loads!!

c. fan heater…I like this option best (only for gutta that’s not colored with dark strong dye). why? because I can leave the painting on the stretcher frame in front of the fan heater, and I’m free to go away and do something else while the hot air is blasting the painting allover evenly…no chance omissions, and hugely reduced chances of browning.

 

2. All the above heat setting methods (a.b.or c.) do not address the second need within Resistad, if, and only if, it’s been colored with dark steam fix dye. The problem is that this dye inside the gutta is unfixed and when wet (color in) dye touches the gutta line edges it redissolves particles of dye on the line edge, and spoils the sharpness of the gutta outline. To fix this problem the only remedy is to steam fix the gutta outline design prior to coloring in, this design, with dye. Obviously, after steam fixation, the fill dye then cannot redissolve the dye inside the gutta because it’s fixed. Steam fixing the gutta design also simultaneously and very thoroughly satisfies the first Resistad heatsetting requirement at the same time as fixing the dye.

Double steam fixation is a labor intensive pain in the butt so I’d only bother with this measure if I have dark strong dye coloring my gutta lines.

Hope this is helpful and please feel free to quote or use the above, anywhere and anyhow you wish.

Regards

John

 

———————————————————————————

 

Francine:

Thank you so much for your answer. I started Silk Painting Network and Tips for Silk Painting blog and would like your permission to share your answer with other

silk painters. That is how I found out about Resistad in the first place.

 

Regarding the problem of the dye inside of colored Resistad being dissolved is not steam set…could we use a paint like Dye-Na-Flow that only takes ironing to set as the color for the Resistad and just iron and then use heat set dyes for the rest of the design?

 

Warm regards,

Francine

————————————-

 

John,

Another great question Francine!

However,

Big problem/bad idea:

Dye – Na – Flow is a paint

This means it’s a: resin = glue + color = pigment, system

For permanents paints rely on the bond of the glue in them to adhere their pigment particles to a given fiber

If you mix any paint with Medium or Thick Resistad (which contains guar gum thickener) the following glue spoiling situation occurs:

Upon heat setting the glue grips the dry guar thickener particles along with the fiber and pigment particles. But when you do the final rinse the guar gum thickener washes out and so the paint is left with it’s grip largely washed away….so the paint tends to fall off very easily…bad quality painting or garment!

 

If you want to mix paints with Resistad use only Thin Resistad which does not contain any guar thickener that will wash away. Always try to give paints an unobstructed grip on fibers if you want them to be permanent. Anyway silk is one of the hardest fibers for any paint to grip because of it’s sheer shiny slippery nature so don’t exacerbate this by adding Medium or Thick Resistad!

 

As said before share these answers anyway you like.

 

Regards

John

 

How Do You Sign Your Name on a Silk Painting?

Recently I was asked by one of my students on The Online Silk Painting Class how I sign my name on silk. The following was my answer. I would love to hear from other silk painters with your tips on signing your name on silk.

My answer was:

Sometimes I sign my name in the first stages of the painting on light color silk if I am  using a  solvent based gutta.

When I use a resist called Resistad I might use that also to sign my name as you can get a nice thin line. Resistad must be set to make it water resistant first.

I have tried pens but usually they do not show up much. If signing on a light background sometimes a fabric pen does the trick.

Even fabric pens can spread some on silk. However if the silk is pre-treated in some way say with No-Flow or Magic Sizing  then you can write on silk and get a pretty clean line.

Lately I am using Jacquard Water Based metallic resist.  I put this on after the painting is complete.Jacquard Permanent Metallic Resist I use a syringe to fill the resist container. Always test your line and resist on a scrap piece of silk first.

I found it helpful to use a syringe when filling an applicator bottle.  I just saw this syringe from Walgreens online and cannot wait to try it. I like the idea that it comes with a clean brush, and an adapter for pouring the resist into it.

Please share your signature tips.

Replies to This Discussion

Ron GutmanPermalink Reply by Ron Gutman 21 hours ago
Delete

If I remember to do so (sigh), I sign lastly (after painting) with a contrasting colored resist (Resistad). If I forget to sign it, then with a ball point pen or iron set resist after steaming. I have seen an artist who cleverly works her signature into the border lines on her scarves…love that!

Francine Dufour JonesPermalink Reply by Francine Dufour Jones 19 hours ago
Delete

Thanks Ron. Great answer and tip! You must have a lot of Resistad made up in different colors. I noticed your line work is exquisite along with your art of course!

Ron GutmanPermalink Reply by Ron Gutman 19 hours ago
Delete

Thanks Francine…I usually only mix up enough Resistad for the project I am working on. If there is any left over, I just leave it in the squeeze bottle and cap it…seems to keep quite well for some time. Also, I may take another left over color and add it to another for a new color. I think the line work comes from many years of illustrating and working with a Rapidograph pen…love the challenge of making beautiful lines.

Dawn CooksleyPermalink Reply by Dawn Cooksley 19 hours ago
Delete

I normally put a little stop flow let it dry then sign with a fine liner brush with just a little dye on it…I tried the pens you can add dye to but found it makes for a thicker signature…sometimes use black gutta and sign with it if I dont use the stop flow…occasionally I just sign with the Pebeo metallic guttas and iron…nearly always the last thing I do…wishing I would learn to do it in the process of making the scarf or painting …haha

someday I will try and get some of the resistad…smile..

Francine Dufour JonesPermalink Reply by Francine Dufour Jones 14 hours ago
Delete

Dawn thank you so much for your reply. Get tips especially with using stop flow. I am sure other silk painters will appreciate this.

How Do You Remove Wax?

This was from a discussion on Silk Painting Gallery Network.
Everyone had some really great solutions!

Jekaterina

Dear all,

I would like to ask you how do you remove wax from silk.

Before I was using JAVANA for painting on silk. To remove wax I was putting my scarve between newspapers and I was ironing it. So couple of times I had to change newspapers, and I found this way to remove wax quite easy. It was only one way I tried.

I heard some people puting silk in hot water.

Now I want to try my new DUPONT colors. And I have no idea what is the best way to remove wax.

So please shape your experience, I would be vary gratfull to you!

Many thanks,

Jekaterina

——————————————————————————————————-

Replies to This Discussion

Dawn CooksleyPermalink Reply by Dawn Cooksley 

oops..I typed out a response but it vanished…the gremlins again..haha

With Dupont dyes I wrap the soy wax scarves up in 2 or 3 pieces of paper the multiple paper will absorb most of the soy wax..and then package them up as you would any scarves for steaming….then I put them in the steamer(I have a commercial steamer)….when the steaming is finished I remove the soy wax treated scarves and let them rest for 2 or 3 days….then I put a little synthrapol in hot water and it magically removes all the soy wax that is left…rinse well…then I rinse again with milsoft and rinse again…..Then iron…

I have heard that some artists iron out some of the soy wax before steaming…but I have not tried that…as the silk dyes need steaming to set the color…where Javana & silk paints are set by ironing….I don’t want to take a chance on the ironing causing a change in the  way the color sets.

You do need extra paper to wrap the soy waxed silks….

Have fun….

—————————————————————————

JekaterinaPermalink Reply by Jekaterina 
Delete

Thank you vey much!!!

I’ll try both ways.

When I was ironing fabric (before steaming), after that it’s wasn’t so soft and silky…that’s way I’m trying to find other ways to remove  wax.

Is it big difference between soya wax and normal one?

  • ——————————————————————–
Dawn CooksleyPermalink Reply by Dawn Cooksley 

Hi Jekaterina…

I have not tried other varieties of the wax…as most require special processes to remove the residual wax…either through dry cleaning (which in rural Canada we have few dry cleaners now and they are very picky about what they will dry clean at least in my area…they refused to dry clean my silk paint custom ties as they thought the color might transfer to other customers things…haha..) or there is another kind of product you can use but  it is called…white spirit. ….I like the soy wax because it is sooooo easy to remove and is environmentally friendly…

I think the cold wax products are easy to remove ….kinda like the soy…but I have not taken time to play with it…I keep promising I will  -it is on my to do list…smile…

have fun,

Dawn

—————————————

Kathy MCPermalink Reply by Kathy MC 

Hi Jekaterina,

Like Dawn, I also wrap my silk in several layers of newsprint, and steam it, if I have used soy wax.  Steaming takes almost all of the wax out, and then I also wash in hot water and synthrapol.  I was first ironing before steaming, but found that I did not need to do the extra step.  I have heard that other types of wax do not come out so easily, so the type of wax you are using makes a big difference.  Good luck, wax is fun to use!

————————————————————————-

Francine Dufour JonesPermalink Reply by Francine Dufour Jones 

Check out this video from the online silk painting class.

———————————————————————————————–

Fiona StolzePermalink Reply by Fiona Stolze 

Hi Jekaterina

I just wanted to briefly share what I have been doing with my soya wax work. I iron out the first load of wax before I steam. I put a layer of kitchen crepe underneath and one on top and iron. Then I roll the silk up as normal and steam. Most of the rest comes out then. After the steaming I put the silk straight away into some warm water with mild shampoo, swirl it around and rinse. And the silk is completely clean and ready to go. Nice and soft.

But I use soya wax which is much easier to remove than other types.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your wax work. 🙂

Fiona