fabic weathering techniques..suggestions?

Hey, my friends and i have been into the whole costuming thing for some time now, but have yet to try anything in terms of weathering the fabric, and getting that raggedy worn look. I figured on tea staining the fabric, but thats as far as ive gotten. Any suggestions?

Well,
I weathered a Boba Fett jumpsuit with Createx fabric paints. They're airbrush ready, and you only need to "heat seal" them with an iron once you've painted them on.
There's a whole range of colors to choose from, so you can get different effects depending on how you mix 'em up.

I use flat gray spray paint to get an overall dingy look.

Also, consider using liquid RIT dye to get the base color you want. For a ragged, frayed look, cut up the edges with a utility knife, then throw it in the wash cycle, then dry on high.

I too was wondering a little about this. I have done weathering before with sandpaper, knives, etc. But I was mostly wondering about tea staining. Does it really work? Is it just as it sounds? I brew up some tea and paint, dip or spray it on? Then do you wash the garment?

My suggestion for weathering is start with edge wear. Use rough sand paper or the edge of a knife that has a toothed edge and fray it up. Then you can use dye on a sponge or in a little spray bottle to stain it. Be sure to dillute the dye! Never use full strength.

what costume are you trying to weather?
and what is it made of?
i think different fabric weathered differently

sparrowfan said:

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what costume are you trying to weather?
and what is it made of?
i think different fabric weathered differently

Yup. Depends on what material we're talking about, and what exactly you want it to look like in the end.

More details?

I've literly taken an old screw driver, heated it up red hot, then poked holes in fabric to make a more uneven hole in some fabric. I've aso used a wire brush bit on a drill too, to wear fabric. Rit dyes work well too, and can usually be controlled a bit by the temperature of water you use. The cooler the water, the lighter material will pick up the color, the hotter, and the darker it will get with the same color dye.

It also depends of the fabric. Cotton will take color very well, cotton poly blends still pick up the color, but not as dark. Polyester, that won't dye using a water based dye.

Painting works well too, you can dilute fabric paint, and spray it on with an air brush, or you can use spray paint and mist the material.

What ever you try, use a piece of scrap to test before you try it on any costume.

I am working on some SteamPunk type costumes, and just want to give them a dusty feel to them, not really worn, just dusty.

Would light airbush misting be good, or pant some talc power brownish and sprinkle that on?

your help and input are greatly appreciated. I was planning to do a jedi costume and do a weathering job on that. Either that or a jack sparrow for this holloween.

staticguy said:

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I am working on some SteamPunk type costumes, and just want to give them a dusty feel to them, not really worn, just dusty.

Would light airbush misting be good, or pant some talc power brownish and sprinkle that on?

I don't know that you can paint talc powder. What you want is Fuller's Earth. It comes in various earth tones. Brak's Buddy uses it on his sandtrooper and sets it with hairspray. It is not a permanent as airbrush paint so if you don't like it, wash it off and start over.

Everything depends on the fabric content and how distressed you want it to appear. For light "dusty" weathering, I've found that a light dusting of tan spray paint can work wonders on certain dark synthetic fabrics. The liquid that the pigment is suspended in can actually cause the fibers to "fuzz" somewhat.

Fuller's earth is great, albeit temporary. Definitely the most realistic look, but be careful since it can scratch hard surfaces.

I also like to use a handheld wire brush as well as watered down acrylic paints in spray bottles. The real key, however, is thinking like dirt and wear. You want to make sure the most "wear" is at the areas that would naturally wear - knees, elbows, collars, cuffs, etc. The same holds true for dirt - you wanna have more dirt where it would naturally accumulate - sweat stains under arms, around collars, etc. I've seen very good weathering techniques ruined by applications that were too uniform, too random, or too illogical (i.e. - most people won't rip their shirts in the small of the back).

Good luck, and please post pics of the projects.

Depends on what you are weathering.

For my pirate costume I used a variety of techniques: tea staining, coffee staining, straight up dying, sunbleaching with Comet, wire brushes, scalpel, sand paper, and bleach baths.

freakengine brings up a good point about thinking before you attack the garment. Obviously sunbleaching only effects certain areas like the shoulders. Thinning and holes from wear usually only happen in high wear areas like the elbows, shoulders, ends of hems, etc. Rips too. They only happens on places that would get snagged on things.

One really great way to just mae fabric really old is to dry is on hight heat. It damages the fabric and fades the color. A good, relatively quick way of aging fabric. I took my knee breeches and a bucket of water into my laundry room. I would dunk the pants, dry on high, dunk, and repeat. Did that all one Saturday.

One of my favorite temporary weathering materials is that colored hairspray they sell at costume shops and such. The most common brand is called Streaks 'N Tips, but there are others.

It's usually available in black, brown, white, grey and silver. Use it just like spray paint. And if you don't like what you do, if the article is washable, just wash it and what you've just done is gone. And yet it's durable enough to stick around pretty well for a while if you want.

Especially if you're just dusting dark things up a bit, the white and grey are great. For light things obviously the black and brown are good.

On-set TV props people use Streaks 'N Tips all the time for quick on-the-spot dulling and aging.

Cheers!

Rick

PS - Favorite nasty rip-at-your-fabric-for-serious-distressing tools: cheese graters and shurforms!

Dusty - Airbrush with fabric paints..or thinned down acrylics..let dry completely, then run through dryer on hot setting.
I use several brands of paint..Createx, Deka, Jaquard etc.. I also use Golden brand liquid acrylics. Don't use house paint or spray enamels..I found that natural fabrics look great when you paint them while they are slightly damp. The moisture will help draw the color into the fiber. More moisture will give a water-color effect.
When you airbrush,make sure you apply at a perpendicular angle and only on a single layer at a time & make sure the fabric doesn't fold & mask itself..
Hope that helps some..

Yeah, the fabric paints are great. You can put them in an aribrush to get really great control, they come in different colors, and if you mess up you can throw them in the wash and start over. I did my son's Boba Fett with Createx and it worked great. Jayn is right, be careful of folds. I actually had my son wear it over some old clothes so I could spray it on as naturally as possible, becaue laying it down creates an odd "front and back" look to it, where the weathering does not wrap around.

A very dilute bleach solution applied with a sponge to the surface of any cotton material makes for a great way of weathering. I used this solution on my CJS waistcoat and it worked out well. I did try using a spray bottle and mist the material but had zero luck with that technique. I essentially ruined my waistcoat and had to restain with Rit Dye and use the bleach solution again. The results actually turned out better than expected.

Here is a before and after pic:


Close up:


The entire piece. The flash from the camera makes it seem lighter but you can see where I had to dye darker due to the damage caused by the spray bottle. I ended up with a starfield effect due to the large droplets coming out of the spray bottle. All ended well though!



I plan on using this same technique on my blue and brown drop front breeches. Just haven't had the time!

If you're going for the dusty look, there is a leather paint that you can pick up online or at many shoe repair shops called NuLife. The light off-tan colors like "champagne" tend to make a pretty convincing layer of dust that doesn't come off of fabric unless you wash or dry clean it. Just mist it on.

I Use a dermal for that wore in look.

There is a product called dirty spray - comes in variouc colours from costume hirers. Here's a link of a UK supplier but the product is American
http://www.wardrobesupplies.co.uk/sh...any=10&start=0
I've heard of people hanging garments over vats of ammonia. THe vapour breaks the cloth down.

Wow, this is a great thread! I'm pretty new here, but I've got a TDK Joker coat that I want to weather up a bit. Here's a post on the BotB that has some good shots of the coat (not exactly sure how to post JUST the pictures here, shy of photobucket):

http://www.runboard.com/bbrotherhoodofthebat.f4.t203356|offset=10

And here's my coat:





I've never really weathered any cloth pieces before, so I'm not exactly sure how to look at the reference and determine what I want for my coat, based on the reference (if that makes ANY sense).

Any help appreciated! Thanks a lot!!

-JJ