Street printing with sumi ink

It Can Be Done

Manhole cover printed onto cotton shirt using sumi ink, before and after washing

Yes, you can use liquid sumi ink for street printing or fabric painting, speaking from personal experience, thought I have only tried it on 100% cotton. I successfully used a combination of long dry time, repeated washing, and a color stop product to permanently mark my fabric and keep the ink from marking other materials it would later be washed with. Be aware that the end result will be lighter than it was. If you need a dark effect, use thinner fabric and/or use a heavy hand when applying the ink.

Basic Process

1. get the ink on the fabric, using your method of choice
2. let it dry for 3-5 *days*
3. soak in the hottest water your fabric will allow, with a little bit of laundry soap
4. rinse well
5. repeat steps 3 and 4 until the soapy water is *considerably* lighter (9 or 10 times if you're using a small sink)
6. apply a color stop product, likely found at your local fabric store or online

The Backstory

In 2016, Bored Panda ran an article about a team of artists in Europe who were printing t-shirts using actual manhole covers. Often overlooked, manhole covers can be quite intricate and unique to a country or city, so if you can find a pretty one you have the makings of a one-of-a-kind memento. Which was perfect, because I had a request from a family member for a t-shirt from Japan, but that also posed a problem. Or opportunity, depending on how you look at it.


The Raubdruckerin group (Pirate Printers), are exclusively based in Europe, so they couldn't help me. But this didn't seem too complicated a project, and I was willing to give it a try. All I needed were a decorative manhole cover in a quiet location, paperboard, a cotton shirt, and something to print with. 


The "something to print with" gave me pause for a minute. Craft supplies are difficult to source in my area and can be expensive. I knew where I could buy a small amount of fabric paint, but I needed quite a bit, it had to be eco-friendly, and anyway I've always been less than impressed with fabric paint's tendency to crack and look shabby over time. So, not fabric paint, then.


Well, if I wanted it to be through-and-through Japanese, I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than sumi ink. I've seen Edo-period paper with characters that were still as black as the day they were written, so the ink definitely doesn't fade. And thanks to my son's mishap during a calligraphy class involving a brand new pair of beige pants, I knew first-hand that the stuff was also permanent on fabric. Another bonus: since it's usually made from only vegetable soot, gum arabic, and water, it is an eco-friendly option. And supply wasn't a problem; even the convenience stores carry it. Only one problem left: how could I make it so permanent that it wouldn't bleed onto anything else when it was washed?
There are times when even the internet fails. All my searches about making sumi permanent on fabric led to dead ends. Maybe they did for you, too, and that's how you ended up here. Hopefully I can help you avoid the trial and error that I went through.

What *didn't* work 

short dry time (pretty obvious)

ironing dried inked fabric for 5 minutes with the highest heat the fabric could stand (this made no difference at all)

starting with dried, inked fabric, spraying it until damp, ironing with a rag to soak up extra ink (a surprisingly small amount of ink transferred to the cloth, but the fabric still released a cloud of ink when I soaked it later)

I didn't try alum for one main reason: correct me if I'm wrong, but my research told me that typically it's used as fabric *prep* so that it better accepts the color, which would mean my fabric would need to be damp before the ink was applied. If I were dying a whole shirt one color it wouldn't be a problem, but ink on a damp shirt would just bleed where I didn't want it. 

What finally worked

Cotton shirt with brush-applied design, before and after washing. Please forgive the lighting difference.

The long dry time was definitely necessary. I don't have a clothes dryer, so I can't advise you there. I think air-drying is best, anyway, because it's easier to control how much the fabric rubs and contacts itself.

Shirt with sumi ink design, soaking in water with a small amount of laundry soap

Definitely use laundry soap when soaking. The modern chemical cocktail that is laundry soap is very effective at both removing whatever is not strongly bonded to the fabric, and keeping it from re-depositing itself in unwanted places.

Lastly, the color stop product. The Dylon "Color Stop" I used might only be available in Japan. It claimed on the product specifications that it wouldn't work on natural dyes, but I found it to be incredibly effective. According to the packet translation, it contained "mixed aqueous solution of double hydroxyl group and alkaline amino."

The Street Printing Process

Nothing too surprising here, I imagine. Just make sure you do this on a windless day. 

Here's your materials list:

• T-shirt, tote bag, etc.
• paperboard to protect against bleed-through (don't make my mistake and use cardboard, because the channels in it will create lines on your design)
• scrub brush
• rags/ old towels/ etc.
• lots of water for rinsing the ink off
• ink (verify that it is eco-friendly)
• gloves
• paint roller
• paint tray
• something to put the dirty towels, used paint roller, and paint tray in

optional: tape or additional paperboard for masking off, also think about whether you'll be hanging around until your product is dried, or if you'll be rolling it up and transporting it immediately. If it's the latter, have a large sheet of paper available to lay on top of the item before rolling it up.

Street printing process

1. Find a likely object to print with, such as a manhole cover, grate, etc. 
2. Clean it as well as you can with the scrub brush and towels. I wouldn't use water at this point because you really only need the surface to be clean, not the indentations. Plus it's usually rather futile to try to clean those deep cavities.
3. Prep your fabric. If you're printing on an item with layers like a tote or a shirt, put paperboard between the layers to keep the design from bleeding through to the opposite side. If desired, mask off areas you don't want the ink to appear (see the Raubdruckerin page for examples and design ideas).
4. Working quickly, because sumi can dry fast, use the paint roller to apply ink to the object. If your hands are dirty, now is the time to don gloves. Lay the fabric item down on the object and press evenly. When you're sure you've made sufficient contact everywhere, lift the fabric away by peeling from one corner. Set it aside to dry.
5. Using rags, remove as much remaining ink as possible from the object, then flush liberally with water until clean. 
6. Prep fabric item for transport. Gather all materials. The idea is to leave the area better than you found it.
7. Follow steps 2-6 from Basic Fabric Process above.

Japanese manhole cover, before printing

Manhole cover, after printing and cleaning

So, if you followed the steps here, how did it go? I'd love to see your work!