I’m new to block printing and I’m having a great time creating sheets of repeat shapes and patterns for use in my collage projects. However, it’s a bit of a bummer that when I apply anything wet to my prints, like glue or acrylic medium, the ink smears all over. Is there a relatively inexpensive block-printing ink that won’t smear once it’s dry? Bonus points if it’s water-soluable. Thank you!
Hello!
If you’re wanting to use water-based media on top of your prints, I’d definitely recommend a water-soluble ink rather than a water-based ink. The water-soluble ones are oil-based, so they’re not going to be affected by water-based mediums once the ink is dry, but you can clean your tools and blocks with soap and water. My favorite inks currently are the Caligo Safe Wash Relief inks, but there are several other brands out there as well. You can also use the more traditional oil-based inks, which will likely be less expensive but more difficult to clean up–you Can clean them up with vegetable oil rather than with harsh solvents, but it’s a bit of a tedious, messy process.
Speedball does make an oil-based “Fabric and Paper Block Printing Ink” that they claim is permanent when dry but also cleans up with soap and water. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to it’s quality or working characteristics, but it’s likely to be one of the less expensive and potentially easier-to-find options.
As an alternative, have you tried using acrylic paints for block printing? You might need to experiment with some of the acrylic mediums if you go that route, to modify the texture and increase your working time.
I have tried two brands of water mixables, I like the water clean up but the medium I used, water mutable medium, caused my painting to come out shiny like a new penny. I will try without the medium.
Thanks for your post.
Hi Debra,
I usually only use the water-mixable linseed oil when painting. You can also use a matte or satin varnish afterward to tone down excessively shiny surfaces. However, keep in mind that just like regular oil paints, you still need to allow the paint to fully dry before varnishing. Once the water component evaporates off (which happens relatively quickly), the paint dries just like a regular oil paint, so the drying time recommendations before varnishing would be the same regardless of whether you used regular or water mixable oils.
Hi. I have only recently started linocut printing and last year I was using water-based ink (just a black and an opaque white from Jackson’s art supplies online in UK). Last month I bought some Cranfield Caligo “safe wash” inks and tried using those. I like the longer working time of the Caligo, but I find the clean-up to be a whole lot more tricky. Everyone says “Oh! they’re great – just use soap and water”, but actually the Caligo inks are very tacky and they still cling on to my rubber brayer and to my linoleum blocks and I seem to end up with piles of cotton rags (or paper kitchen roll) trying to wipe off the colour. Sure, the glass and metal bits come up very clean right away, but anything rubbery or plastic and the Caligo stains. I have found that water is actually not helpful in cleaning up Caligo inks; if I just squeeze a load of washing up liquid onto the brayer and the lino and work that with an old toothbrush or nail-brush then it does emulsify the ink and lifts it from the surface. Then a *damp* cloth can be used to wipe the oily/soapy mix off the surface. Once it’s nearly clean a wetter cloth may be used to clear the surface a bit more. And then I need dry rags or paper wipes.
So, yes, you *can* clean up Caligo Safe Wash inks with soap and water, but it’s a whole lot messier and more difficult to clean up than my water-based inks.
Hi Jem,
Thanks for your input on how you clean up after using the Caligo Safe Wash inks!
Yes, it’s true that the Caligo Safe Wash inks are more difficult to clean up than a water-based ink. I don’t find them particularly difficult or messy, though it does take a bit more time and effort. I use a similar method except that after I work the dish soap in with a brush, I typically rinse the brayer or lino under a stream of water while scrubbing gently with the brush. I sometimes get some staining on carved-away areas of the lino, but nothing that affects printing.
For my purposes, the working properties of the oil-based Caligo Safe Wash inks more than make up for the increased cleanup time compared to water-based inks.
Cleanup of traditional oil-based printing inks without using solvents, on the other hand, is a whole different level of effort and frustration!
Hi Paul,
I have used cooking oil for cleaning up the traditional oil-based inks but not for the Safe Wash inks (I’m not quite sure from your comment which type you were asking about). It’s pretty messy and fairly time-consuming–I don’t think I’ve got the technique down quite yet!
I mostly only use traditional oil-based inks for the metallics (silver and gold), since Caligo doesn’t make those in their Safe Wash line and I haven’t found any other brands that do–it’s either regular oil-based or water-based. I’m still looking a good brand for silver and gold ink!
Hi! Have you tried to mix Caligo safe wash inks with traditional oil-based inks? I already have many traditional oil-based inks so i wonder if i can mix it with my inks to make colors (I’m using Gamblin & Sakura relief inks)
Hello!
I actually haven’t tried mixing traditional oil-based inks with the Caligo safe wash inks. However, I suspect that, like with water-mixable oil paints, you can probably mix a small amount of regular oil-based inks in and still be able to clean up with soap and water. With water-mixable oil paints, you can typically mix up to 20-25% traditional oil paint in. Obviously, the more traditional oil you mix in, the less water-soluble the mixture will be. Of course, if you’re not concerned with water-based clean up, you can probably mix a much greater amount in. Since they’re both oil-based, there shouldn’t really be any performance issues from mixing the two.
I’d say give it a try and let us know how it works out!
Hi there, Do you a have a recommendation of brayers to use with Caligo Safe Wash? I am having problems with Speedball brayers breaking down and getting “sticky”.
I also use a Speedball brayer and mine also has gotten a bit sticky, but I’ve never noticed it affecting the use or final print quality. Speedball advises that you can apply a small amount of corn starch or talcum powder to reduce the stickiness and that this shouldn’t affect the performance or prints in any way. I also have a different brand of brayer that I purchased recently, but I haven’t used it enough to tell if stickiness will be an issue.
Let me know how things work out if you try the corn starch/talcum powder!
Hi Tony,
It’s weird that you’ve experienced issues with the inks not drying. What type of paper are you printing on?
I’ve never had any issues with drying with either Japanese paper (which is my preferred paper for hand-printing) or on heavier weight drawing paper. The inks take a few days to dry, like all oil-based inks, but usually everything is dry to the touch in less than a week. That said, I did have one instance where the ink just didn’t seem to dry, but I was testing out some different paper types. In this case, it was a papyrus paper which I assume has some sort of coating that may have prolonged the drying process. That one was still tacky after several months!
Oil-based inks dry through a process of oxidation rather than evaporation like water-based ones do, so the process can take much longer. The Caligo Safe Wash inks, like water-mixable oil paints, would dry in a two-step process where the water-soluble component dries quite quickly, leaving only the oil-based component, which ‘dries’ the same way a traditional oil-based ink or paint does. The drying time shouldn’t really differ between traditional oil-based inks and the water mixable ones.
Humidity and temperature will also affect the drying time of oil-based inks. It can help to place the prints in an area with good air circulation and lower humidity. They’ll dry faster at warmer temperatures as well. I’ve read that you can speed up the process somewhat by using a hair dryer on low, but I’ve never tried it.
I have just been experimenting with Caligo Safe Wash relief ink a bit, and found the cleanup very easy (I use plexiglas plates for monotype). I noticed on the Cranfield website that they advise using only cold water during cleanup, that warm or hot water will actually make it more difficult.
Also purchased a tube of the wax drier to see how it will affect drying time.
Thanks for your comments! I hadn’t noticed the bit about using cold water on their website. I’ve always used warm water and never noticed any issues with cleanup. I’ll have to try using cold water to see if it makes a difference. Let me know how your experiments with the wax drier go!
I also do momotypes on plexiglass with etching ink and solvent to thin the ink and create a range of values. What would you use to thin the Caligo safe wash ?
Cranfield makes a product called Caligo Safe Wash Oil that is made from the same modified linseed oil they use in their safe wash inks. Their website says it can be used to thin and dilute the inks. I haven’t used it myself, so I’d love to hear your experience if you try it out!
I am just changing from water based to Caligo Safewash because of the water based smudging or rewetting even when they’re dry. I have tried some small tests and found that cold/cool water and a good slug of washing up liquid cleans my ‘experimenting’ brush better than warm water. Not sure about on a large scale.
My question is: How long will ink in a tin stay good/workable, as opposed to a tube? I would far rather have a tube, but at the moment on Jackson’s site a 236ml tin is only a few pounds dearer than a 150ml tube, (a few such as magenta & violet a bit more expensive but still favourable versus a tube), and it seems too good to pass up. In Laura Boswell’s book she makes the fair point that it’s false economy if the ink skins – but no disrespect she probably doesn’t have to think about the initial price like some of us! She does give a good tip of cutting a circle of heavy vinyl to replace the supplied protective sheet in the tin.
Jackson’s don’t seem to know much about their products these days – or maybe I spoke to the wrong person. Just wondering if anybody has any info on the shelf life of the ink in a tin? Thank you
Thanks for your question! I haven’t used the tins of ink, but since the oil dries by oxidation, as long as the inks are protected from air, they should remain usable. Obviously, that’s easier to do in a tube where the excess airspace can be squeezed out by rolling up or flattening the tube.
For the tins, the Cranfield website recommends to “skim ink from the surface (don’t dig out big chunks), don’t mix/stir the ink in the tin, cover the ink surface with an airtight seal, seal the lid with airtight tape.” There are some art supply companies that sell a product specifically for covering the surface of the ink. McClains Printmaking Supplies, for example, sells “skin papers” that are precut to fit inside 500 ml tins. You can also make your own by cutting pieces of wax paper to fit the inside of the tin. The important point is to make sure that the surface of the ink is a smooth as possible, so the paper covers the ink without air spaces or pockets, which would allow the oil in the ink to oxidize.
I’m so glad to have found your post! Using a combination of natural materials and acrylic paint is what calls to me the most. Sticks/twigs, Spanish moss, leaves, flowers, feathers, etc are the natural elements in leaning toward but – especially with flowers and parts of plants that contain moisture still – I have been trying to figure out how to “preserve” them so they keep their color/shape, etc. Do you work with any of those materials, and, if so, what have you found to work best beyond what you’ve mentioned here? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your comment! I haven’t worked too much with fresh plant material. I typically will dry and press it flat first.
I have made a few small pieces with freshly fallen leaves that are often not fully dry. For those, I’ve had good luck with the Golden Acrylic Soft Gel medium, which I apply both as a base adhesive layer and as a sealant layer over the top of the leaves before applying an acrylic varnish. I haven’t had any issues with mold, though the acrylic mediums do allow the leaves to dry out over time. The fresh yellow leaves faded considerably over the course of a year; the reds and greens seem to have faded a bit as well.
For cleaning up my rubber brayers, I spritz them with a spray bottle of water mixed with Dawn dish detergent and let them sit a few moments. Most times I can see the remains of the ink just slide off. If I’ve left them out longer and the ink is more tacky, I use a Dobie pad or a pink ScotchBrite scouring pad (the pink one is less abrasive) after spritzing, and that seems to do the trick.
I’d be interested to know if anyone has had experience with the Tack Reducer, and if this is similar to the discontinued Daniel Smith product Miracle Gel.
The wax drier seems to speed up the drying time of the prints, but I don’t have enough experience with it to know if the difference is significant.
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HI there, Tamara,
I’m new to block printing and I’m having a great time creating sheets of repeat shapes and patterns for use in my collage projects. However, it’s a bit of a bummer that when I apply anything wet to my prints, like glue or acrylic medium, the ink smears all over. Is there a relatively inexpensive block-printing ink that won’t smear once it’s dry? Bonus points if it’s water-soluable. Thank you!
Hello!
If you’re wanting to use water-based media on top of your prints, I’d definitely recommend a water-soluble ink rather than a water-based ink. The water-soluble ones are oil-based, so they’re not going to be affected by water-based mediums once the ink is dry, but you can clean your tools and blocks with soap and water. My favorite inks currently are the Caligo Safe Wash Relief inks, but there are several other brands out there as well. You can also use the more traditional oil-based inks, which will likely be less expensive but more difficult to clean up–you Can clean them up with vegetable oil rather than with harsh solvents, but it’s a bit of a tedious, messy process.
Speedball does make an oil-based “Fabric and Paper Block Printing Ink” that they claim is permanent when dry but also cleans up with soap and water. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to it’s quality or working characteristics, but it’s likely to be one of the less expensive and potentially easier-to-find options.
As an alternative, have you tried using acrylic paints for block printing? You might need to experiment with some of the acrylic mediums if you go that route, to modify the texture and increase your working time.
I have tried two brands of water mixables, I like the water clean up but the medium I used, water mutable medium, caused my painting to come out shiny like a new penny. I will try without the medium.
Thanks for your post.
Hi Debra,
I usually only use the water-mixable linseed oil when painting. You can also use a matte or satin varnish afterward to tone down excessively shiny surfaces. However, keep in mind that just like regular oil paints, you still need to allow the paint to fully dry before varnishing. Once the water component evaporates off (which happens relatively quickly), the paint dries just like a regular oil paint, so the drying time recommendations before varnishing would be the same regardless of whether you used regular or water mixable oils.
Hi. I have only recently started linocut printing and last year I was using water-based ink (just a black and an opaque white from Jackson’s art supplies online in UK). Last month I bought some Cranfield Caligo “safe wash” inks and tried using those. I like the longer working time of the Caligo, but I find the clean-up to be a whole lot more tricky. Everyone says “Oh! they’re great – just use soap and water”, but actually the Caligo inks are very tacky and they still cling on to my rubber brayer and to my linoleum blocks and I seem to end up with piles of cotton rags (or paper kitchen roll) trying to wipe off the colour. Sure, the glass and metal bits come up very clean right away, but anything rubbery or plastic and the Caligo stains. I have found that water is actually not helpful in cleaning up Caligo inks; if I just squeeze a load of washing up liquid onto the brayer and the lino and work that with an old toothbrush or nail-brush then it does emulsify the ink and lifts it from the surface. Then a *damp* cloth can be used to wipe the oily/soapy mix off the surface. Once it’s nearly clean a wetter cloth may be used to clear the surface a bit more. And then I need dry rags or paper wipes.
So, yes, you *can* clean up Caligo Safe Wash inks with soap and water, but it’s a whole lot messier and more difficult to clean up than my water-based inks.
Hi Jem,
Thanks for your input on how you clean up after using the Caligo Safe Wash inks!
Yes, it’s true that the Caligo Safe Wash inks are more difficult to clean up than a water-based ink. I don’t find them particularly difficult or messy, though it does take a bit more time and effort. I use a similar method except that after I work the dish soap in with a brush, I typically rinse the brayer or lino under a stream of water while scrubbing gently with the brush. I sometimes get some staining on carved-away areas of the lino, but nothing that affects printing.
For my purposes, the working properties of the oil-based Caligo Safe Wash inks more than make up for the increased cleanup time compared to water-based inks.
Cleanup of traditional oil-based printing inks without using solvents, on the other hand, is a whole different level of effort and frustration!
Have you tried cooking oil for the clean up ? I use this with my oil based etching inks…. works great on brayers !!
Hi Paul,
I have used cooking oil for cleaning up the traditional oil-based inks but not for the Safe Wash inks (I’m not quite sure from your comment which type you were asking about). It’s pretty messy and fairly time-consuming–I don’t think I’ve got the technique down quite yet!
I mostly only use traditional oil-based inks for the metallics (silver and gold), since Caligo doesn’t make those in their Safe Wash line and I haven’t found any other brands that do–it’s either regular oil-based or water-based. I’m still looking a good brand for silver and gold ink!
Hi! Have you tried to mix Caligo safe wash inks with traditional oil-based inks? I already have many traditional oil-based inks so i wonder if i can mix it with my inks to make colors (I’m using Gamblin & Sakura relief inks)
Hello!
I actually haven’t tried mixing traditional oil-based inks with the Caligo safe wash inks. However, I suspect that, like with water-mixable oil paints, you can probably mix a small amount of regular oil-based inks in and still be able to clean up with soap and water. With water-mixable oil paints, you can typically mix up to 20-25% traditional oil paint in. Obviously, the more traditional oil you mix in, the less water-soluble the mixture will be. Of course, if you’re not concerned with water-based clean up, you can probably mix a much greater amount in. Since they’re both oil-based, there shouldn’t really be any performance issues from mixing the two.
I’d say give it a try and let us know how it works out!
-thanks for the input.
Hi there, Do you a have a recommendation of brayers to use with Caligo Safe Wash? I am having problems with Speedball brayers breaking down and getting “sticky”.
Hi Terry,
I also use a Speedball brayer and mine also has gotten a bit sticky, but I’ve never noticed it affecting the use or final print quality. Speedball advises that you can apply a small amount of corn starch or talcum powder to reduce the stickiness and that this shouldn’t affect the performance or prints in any way. I also have a different brand of brayer that I purchased recently, but I haven’t used it enough to tell if stickiness will be an issue.
Let me know how things work out if you try the corn starch/talcum powder!
Beautiful inks but – they – never – dry
Hi Tony,
It’s weird that you’ve experienced issues with the inks not drying. What type of paper are you printing on?
I’ve never had any issues with drying with either Japanese paper (which is my preferred paper for hand-printing) or on heavier weight drawing paper. The inks take a few days to dry, like all oil-based inks, but usually everything is dry to the touch in less than a week. That said, I did have one instance where the ink just didn’t seem to dry, but I was testing out some different paper types. In this case, it was a papyrus paper which I assume has some sort of coating that may have prolonged the drying process. That one was still tacky after several months!
Oil-based inks dry through a process of oxidation rather than evaporation like water-based ones do, so the process can take much longer. The Caligo Safe Wash inks, like water-mixable oil paints, would dry in a two-step process where the water-soluble component dries quite quickly, leaving only the oil-based component, which ‘dries’ the same way a traditional oil-based ink or paint does. The drying time shouldn’t really differ between traditional oil-based inks and the water mixable ones.
Humidity and temperature will also affect the drying time of oil-based inks. It can help to place the prints in an area with good air circulation and lower humidity. They’ll dry faster at warmer temperatures as well. I’ve read that you can speed up the process somewhat by using a hair dryer on low, but I’ve never tried it.
Thanks for your input!
I have just been experimenting with Caligo Safe Wash relief ink a bit, and found the cleanup very easy (I use plexiglas plates for monotype). I noticed on the Cranfield website that they advise using only cold water during cleanup, that warm or hot water will actually make it more difficult.
Also purchased a tube of the wax drier to see how it will affect drying time.
Hi Debra,
Thanks for your comments! I hadn’t noticed the bit about using cold water on their website. I’ve always used warm water and never noticed any issues with cleanup. I’ll have to try using cold water to see if it makes a difference. Let me know how your experiments with the wax drier go!
I also do momotypes on plexiglass with etching ink and solvent to thin the ink and create a range of values. What would you use to thin the Caligo safe wash ?
Cranfield makes a product called Caligo Safe Wash Oil that is made from the same modified linseed oil they use in their safe wash inks. Their website says it can be used to thin and dilute the inks. I haven’t used it myself, so I’d love to hear your experience if you try it out!
I am just changing from water based to Caligo Safewash because of the water based smudging or rewetting even when they’re dry. I have tried some small tests and found that cold/cool water and a good slug of washing up liquid cleans my ‘experimenting’ brush better than warm water. Not sure about on a large scale.
My question is: How long will ink in a tin stay good/workable, as opposed to a tube? I would far rather have a tube, but at the moment on Jackson’s site a 236ml tin is only a few pounds dearer than a 150ml tube, (a few such as magenta & violet a bit more expensive but still favourable versus a tube), and it seems too good to pass up. In Laura Boswell’s book she makes the fair point that it’s false economy if the ink skins – but no disrespect she probably doesn’t have to think about the initial price like some of us! She does give a good tip of cutting a circle of heavy vinyl to replace the supplied protective sheet in the tin.
Jackson’s don’t seem to know much about their products these days – or maybe I spoke to the wrong person. Just wondering if anybody has any info on the shelf life of the ink in a tin? Thank you
Hello Lynsey,
Thanks for your question! I haven’t used the tins of ink, but since the oil dries by oxidation, as long as the inks are protected from air, they should remain usable. Obviously, that’s easier to do in a tube where the excess airspace can be squeezed out by rolling up or flattening the tube.
For the tins, the Cranfield website recommends to “skim ink from the surface (don’t dig out big chunks), don’t mix/stir the ink in the tin, cover the ink surface with an airtight seal, seal the lid with airtight tape.” There are some art supply companies that sell a product specifically for covering the surface of the ink. McClains Printmaking Supplies, for example, sells “skin papers” that are precut to fit inside 500 ml tins. You can also make your own by cutting pieces of wax paper to fit the inside of the tin. The important point is to make sure that the surface of the ink is a smooth as possible, so the paper covers the ink without air spaces or pockets, which would allow the oil in the ink to oxidize.
I’m so glad to have found your post! Using a combination of natural materials and acrylic paint is what calls to me the most. Sticks/twigs, Spanish moss, leaves, flowers, feathers, etc are the natural elements in leaning toward but – especially with flowers and parts of plants that contain moisture still – I have been trying to figure out how to “preserve” them so they keep their color/shape, etc. Do you work with any of those materials, and, if so, what have you found to work best beyond what you’ve mentioned here? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your comment! I haven’t worked too much with fresh plant material. I typically will dry and press it flat first.
I have made a few small pieces with freshly fallen leaves that are often not fully dry. For those, I’ve had good luck with the Golden Acrylic Soft Gel medium, which I apply both as a base adhesive layer and as a sealant layer over the top of the leaves before applying an acrylic varnish. I haven’t had any issues with mold, though the acrylic mediums do allow the leaves to dry out over time. The fresh yellow leaves faded considerably over the course of a year; the reds and greens seem to have faded a bit as well.
You can check out my blog post on the leaf collages here: http://tamarajaeger.com/2023/03/17/natural-material-woes-leaf-collage-experiments/
I’ll have to do an update on how the second piece is faring.
I think there’s always going to be some fading of color as the fresh materials dry out. Let me know how you get on with your experiments!
For cleaning up my rubber brayers, I spritz them with a spray bottle of water mixed with Dawn dish detergent and let them sit a few moments. Most times I can see the remains of the ink just slide off. If I’ve left them out longer and the ink is more tacky, I use a Dobie pad or a pink ScotchBrite scouring pad (the pink one is less abrasive) after spritzing, and that seems to do the trick.
I’d be interested to know if anyone has had experience with the Tack Reducer, and if this is similar to the discontinued Daniel Smith product Miracle Gel.
The wax drier seems to speed up the drying time of the prints, but I don’t have enough experience with it to know if the difference is significant.