If you are interested in eco-printing on cotton, and want alternatives to or additional options besides metal mordants, then soy milk binder is the way to go. One of its advantages is that the proteins in soy milk make cotton behave like wool and other protein fibres. This means that any leaves that produce red or orange prints on wool can be used on cotton to get lovely pink or coral coloured prints, as shown below. And if you combine the use of soy milk binder with homemade iron mordant, you open up even more interesting possibilities. Scroll down to see some examples of these.
We dive into the many uses of soy milk binder for eco-printing in my specialist ecourse, simply titled ‘Soy Milk Binder’. And for those of you who prefer learning through reading, it’s also the focus of my book/ebook, Leaf and Colour.
Here are some samples of work by my students in the Soy Milk Binder ecourse. This lovely piece was eco-printed by Debbie Lucas. She prepared the cotton with soy milk binder, then used geranium and herb Robert leaves which have created a bright, layered pattern:
These soft, harmonious prints were created by Bobbi Stowers, using rose, passion vine and eucalyptus leaves. Again, the cotton was prepared with soy milk binder:
It is also possible to prepare fabric with cow’s milk, which creates a similar effect to soy milk because both are protein rich. Kathy Little has used this to great effect in this sample of eucalyptus leaves eco-printed on cotton. You can see how the cow’s milk makes the cotton take the dyes very similarly to wool, creating vivid orange prints:
If you’d like to come back to these photos for some inspiration later, you can pin this image:
Hello from Israel. Did you or your students use any mordants besides the soya milk binder? I love the darker outline of the leaves . I took one of your E classes and I enjoyed it and I’m thinking of taking another one.
Thanks. R
Hi Reut, for some of the lessons we combined the soy milk binder with iron, which helped create those dark outlines you like. For others, we used just the soy milk which gave brighter, flatter results including the orange eucalyptus leaf prints.
Preciosas técnicas !! Gracias
I’ve created some Eco prints using watercolor paper, some are good, most are not. I want to try the Soy milk, are you soaking the material in the milk or after you make the bundles? Do you boil in iron water after the soak? Thank you, Rhonda
Hi Rhonda, I soak paper or cotton in soy milk and then let it dry before making the bundles. I have a bit more info about this in my eco-printing on paper ebook too. Sometimes I cook in plain water, sometimes I add natural dyes and iron, depending on the effects I want to get.
i soaked watercolor paper in soy milk then boiled and all the plants stuck to the pages and ripped when trying to take the plants off….is this because of the soymilk?
Hello, yes that sounds like the likely cause. You could try with a more watered down soy milk, as strong soy milk can be quite sticky on the paper. It can also help to put the paper under water and gently rub the plants to get them off. Sometimes that is enough to stop them from tearing.
Hello Gumnut,
After curing the soy-dipped fabric, do I dampen it before ecoprinting?
Thank you
Sorry for my slow reply. I actually leave the fabric dry. I find it easier to place leaves on and roll up dry fabric, and because I boil my bundles the fabric will get wet anyway. But you can dampen the fabric if you prefer.