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Acetone Image Transfer on Tea Towels

Make tea towels by using nail polish remover to transfer a toner based image.
10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Author Angie Holden

What You Will Need

  • Professional strength nail polish remover I would recommend getting 100% acetone for this project.
  • Print that is mirrored and toner based (see notes above on how to get these easily)
  • Tea towels
  • Cotton balls
  • Copy paper
  • Spatula or old credit card

Instructions

  • Put your image face down where you want it. You can tape in place if desired.
  • Rub the nail polish remover on to the paper with a cotton ball. Starting at the center of the image, swipe the cotton ball that is saturated with finger nail polish remover across the paper from the center outward. Go over the paper several times to make sure it is saturated. The acetone will reactivate the ink on the paper and it will transfer to your surface. In this case it transfers like magic to your tea towel -- I am tellin' ya.
  • Rub the image with a spatula or credit card to burnish it some and make sure everything transfers.
  • Peel up your paper and make sure the image has transferred before completely removing. Remove any paper stuck to your surface while still wet.

Notes

I used a graphic from the Graphics Fairy. Added the "H" and mirrored the image. I used a copier and darkened the copy twice -- I would highly recommend not skipping this step. Toner is basically powdered ink, so it transfers more easily. You will want to find somewhere that you can make a toner based copy. You may also want to make several copies and practice a few times before diving into your tea towel.