Household Chemistry... aka How to Make Your Own Fabric Labels
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 04:08PM 
I thought for my very first blog entry, I'd give away some of my secrets. Not the really juicy ones, but a technique I've perfected and hold dear. You see, I'm a DIY kind of girl. I've ordered labels from some great suppliers, printed my own using premade colorfast sheets, but all the while wanted to do it my own way. After quite a bit of research into household chemistry, I came up with the ultimate recipe for crafting eco-friendly, professional quality labels for my garments. And here it is!
First, you'll need to hit a few aisles of your local grocery store. The first ingredient you'll need is in the spice section. Its an additive relatively unknown outside the pickling world called Alum. The second stop on your journey will be in the laundry aisle. You'll need a bottle of liquid fabric softener. Any brand will do... but I chose the Bright Green brand. Lastly, look for a box of washing soda. This will be near the Borax and is made by Arm & Hammer. Truthfully, I could not find this stuff ANYWHERE. The ingredient in washing soda is sodium carbonate and I scouted around looking for a comparable product. Your local hardware store likely stocks this ingredient in the form of pond additive (it lowers the pH of water). For much less moola, you can probably find a box of White King Water Softener (also in the laundry aisle). It has a few more additives than regular washing soda (still eco friendly though) and I've found that it works perfectly!
Lastly, head over to the aisle that stocks the baggies, foil, etc. You are looking for Reynold Freezer Paper. Not waxed paper (believe me... I made this mistake too). It's going to be a huge roll and it'll be around $5.
Now... when you get all these goodies home, you'll need to find some suitable fabric. I'll let you in on another little secret. Bed sheets from the thrift store work great! Look for 100% cotton, a fairly tight weave and a light color. I wash mine in hot water, rinse twice and make sure to not use any dryer sheets or fabric softener. I rip them into strips about a foot wide. I work with one strip at a time and save the rest when I need to restock my labels. I'm thinking you could probably get 1000 or so labels from just one bedsheet! How's that for economy!
When you are ready to play chemist, you'll need to find a decent sized plastic bowl. Add to it the following (in any order):
2 tablespoons Alum
3 teaspoons washing soda, pond additive or water softener
1/2 tsp. fabric softener
1 1/2 cups VERY hot water
Stir all this well and wait for the foaming to subside. Add your fabric strip and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Wring it back into the bowl and decant the solution into a sealed glass jar. You can reuse this stuff as many times as you need! You can air dry the fabric or pop it in the dryer if you are super impatient like me.
Once your treated fabric is dry, you'll need to adhere the freezer paper. Use a very hot, dry iron and press the waxy side onto the fabric. Once I've done this, I use my trusty guillotine style paper cutter to trim it into standard 8.5 x 11 sheets.
Now you are free to have some fun! I use my Photoshop Elements program to design my labels (I like a folded label, printed on both sides to stitch into the seams of my garments). Simply print onto the fabric side of your sheets with any regular inkjet printer! Sound easy, right? It is! After I've printed my sheets, I run them over with a hot dry iron to ensure they will be completely colorfast. I simply cut them apart with my pinking shears and they are ready to use.
I've wash tested these in all temperatures of water with several common detergents and have had excellent results. Very little fading, the labels stay soft (unlike the commercial premade printable sheets) and having the pinked edged keeps the fraying to a minimum.
So now my secret is out... go experiment! Maybe your own custom labels, a photo pillow, or a quilt with your own illustrations incorporated? I'd love to hear your ideas!
Reader Comments (17)
WOW.....WOW......WOW.......I have always wondered how to do it and never even knew how to begin looking for a way. Was gonna buy some labels but now am so gonna try this. THANK YOU! I use Alum to make play-dough for my kids all the time....never knew it could be used for something for me! Libby~*
Hello!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I have done all that and the fabric still frays. Should I add less water? Make it boiling? Also 1 tsp fabric softener means teaspoon or tablespoon? I added half teaspoon.
If I reuse the mix, should I heat it in the microwave?
Thank you!
Hi NK! I'm not sure why your fabric is fraying if the edges have been pinked. You might try a product like Fray Check on the edges or turning the edges in a stitching it flat. The fabric softener is 1/2 teaspoon. As for reusing the mixture, if you shake it and it redistributes well (i.e. no graininess at the bottom), you can use it at room temperature. Sometimes a batch just won't dissolve completely without reheating. Good luck!
Thank you so much for sharing your secret for making labels! I made some last night and LOVE the results. Now I'm not stuck with just one size labels and can make them fit small and big items. Thanks again! I hope to post photos of them on my site soon.
I really like the design of your labels. I'll have to give this technique a try sometime.
you are the bomb....!
You had me up until the Photoshop, darn it!
These are really cool tips, i am definitely doing this.
Hello! Do you know if all of this stuff is in complaince with the CPSIA? Do you have to get the labels tested?
Thanks so much for the wonderful "recipe"! It works great! I love that I can make my own tags and for under $15.00. It allows me to do the FTC and CPSIA tags on my crocheted products and I can adjust the information for each item since I use a variety of yarns. I don't have Photo Shop, but all i really wanted were some basic tags and this fills the bill!
this sounds so awesome! can't way to try it..the best tutorial i've read so far :-)
Do you use a special ink in your printer, or just standard cartridges? Great instructions. Can't wait to do this.
Thank you!!
WoW! thanks for the detailed info. Excellent instructions, can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing ;)
This is SO fantastic! I've been making my own labels for some time now and purchasing the printable fabric. Thank you SOSOSO much.
"the ink washed off when i tried washing it. is there a way for it to set?"
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