Ahhhh Thank you SO much for this. The price on heavyweight buckram increased by 100% during the pandemic and still hasn't gone down. It honestly made me so depressed because I couldn't afford to buy more buckram. So I've been looking for alternatives that I can use for blocking and free form/pattern based buckram hats. Now I have a few alternatives to try out. Thank you!!!
If you would like to expand your experiment, you might try gum arabic from an art supply store, or alternately tapioca starch ( a gluten free product used in Asian cooking). I have these both on hand and I think I'll give them a try for comparison with your results! They both need to be melted in hot water, just like cornstarch. For the projects I've used them for, they gave sturdy results.
@@steam-cat My experiments with gum arabic are going well! It's half the cost of gum trag, and sets up nice and hard. It has antifungal and antimicrobial properties, and will hold a heat set and go back to shape after crushing. I used the artist's grade, crystals, dissolved 2 parts water to one part gum arabic. I also noticed when I strained the liquid gum arabic through an old tea towel, voila! The fabric was well-worn and absorbed the gum arabic well. The old tea towel is now a buckram hat form! ☺
@@steam-cat I should mention that although gum arabic is totally non-toxic (it's used in food products), it can burn. It's a resin, so it burns like napalm. Be careful to keep your kids and family members away from hot gum arabic solution!
There is no buckram to speak of, July 2021. There’s some but it seems really pricey! If we’re going to be making it, some artists canvas stretcher bars would help, put the fabric on and paint it front and back. Easier to handle, especially in batches. You can wet shape fabric in a variety of paints and acrylic mediums. We may be going there…
I did two generous coats of xantham gum on midweight linen and was very disappointed. Im going to try your suggested cornstarch mix. I've also tried wood glue and aleen's tacky glue.
Congratulations on the video. Is the proof you did on the Dumbbell buckram made with cornstarch or xanthan gum? to shape it to the head, did you moisten it with cold water or hot steam? forgive but I often don't understand, but your videos are very useful. thank you
Thank you! I used both cold water and steam. I find that it's easier for me to spray the buckram with cold water, shape it, then go over it with the steamer. When it's dry I use a dry iron to smooth the buckram before I remove it from the block. I should make a video!
Hey, thanks for the great video! Bit of a weird question and sorry in advance if this is something you can't help with since I come from a wholly different hobby (bookbinding), during what stage of this process would it be possible to add paint to the buckram? before applying anything? after applying a first coat? Would there be a certain type of paint thats better in your opinion? thanks in advance
Thanks for watching! I'm sorry, but the closest I've come to that was years ago when I spray painted some craft buckram black out of desperation. I'm pretty sure the moisture in the paint helped break down the stiffening in the buckram. It was a bit of a disaster. But you never know if you don't experiment, right? Based on that I would suggest adding any color to fabric before applying the stiffener. If you're planning to paint your fabric a single color, it might be best to dye it if you can. Otherwise, there are paints that are made especially for fabric. You should be able to find some at your local craft store or order them online. If I were doing this I would make some swatches and experiment. If you try this, do let me know how it turned out!
Thank you. Both for making the video, and all the experiments and comparisons you made. 🙂
Ahhhh Thank you SO much for this. The price on heavyweight buckram increased by 100% during the pandemic and still hasn't gone down. It honestly made me so depressed because I couldn't afford to buy more buckram.
So I've been looking for alternatives that I can use for blocking and free form/pattern based buckram hats. Now I have a few alternatives to try out. Thank you!!!
Thanks for watching. I hope it was helpful.
If you would like to expand your experiment, you might try gum arabic from an art supply store, or alternately tapioca starch ( a gluten free product used in Asian cooking). I have these both on hand and I think I'll give them a try for comparison with your results! They both need to be melted in hot water, just like cornstarch. For the projects I've used them for, they gave sturdy results.
Thanks! I've been meaning to try gum arabic. I'll give tapioca starch a shot as well!
@@steam-cat My experiments with gum arabic are going well! It's half the cost of gum trag, and sets up nice and hard. It has antifungal and antimicrobial properties, and will hold a heat set and go back to shape after crushing. I used the artist's grade, crystals, dissolved 2 parts water to one part gum arabic. I also noticed when I strained the liquid gum arabic through an old tea towel, voila! The fabric was well-worn and absorbed the gum arabic well. The old tea towel is now a buckram hat form! ☺
I'll give that a shot! Thank you!
@@steam-cat I should mention that although gum arabic is totally non-toxic (it's used in food products), it can burn. It's a resin, so it burns like napalm. Be careful to keep your kids and family members away from hot gum arabic solution!
Thanks, I was thinking about creating some buckram and found your video :)
I hope it's useful!
@@steam-cat Yes it was, thanks :)
There is no buckram to speak of, July 2021. There’s some but it seems really pricey! If we’re going to be making it, some artists canvas stretcher bars would help, put the fabric on and paint it front and back. Easier to handle, especially in batches.
You can wet shape fabric in a variety of paints and acrylic mediums. We may be going there…
I did two generous coats of xantham gum on midweight linen and was very disappointed. Im going to try your suggested cornstarch mix. I've also tried wood glue and aleen's tacky glue.
I hope that works. I've had the best luck with two coats (wait for the first to dry) and a heavier cotton such as twill.
Congratulations on the video. Is the proof you did on the Dumbbell buckram made with cornstarch or xanthan gum?
to shape it to the head, did you moisten it with cold water or hot steam?
forgive but I often don't understand, but your videos are very useful. thank you
Thank you! I used both cold water and steam. I find that it's easier for me to spray the buckram with cold water, shape it, then go over it with the steamer. When it's dry I use a dry iron to smooth the buckram before I remove it from the block.
I should make a video!
Hey, thanks for the great video!
Bit of a weird question and sorry in advance if this is something you can't help with since I come from a wholly different hobby (bookbinding), during what stage of this process would it be possible to add paint to the buckram? before applying anything? after applying a first coat? Would there be a certain type of paint thats better in your opinion?
thanks in advance
Thanks for watching! I'm sorry, but the closest I've come to that was years ago when I spray painted some craft buckram black out of desperation. I'm pretty sure the moisture in the paint helped break down the stiffening in the buckram. It was a bit of a disaster. But you never know if you don't experiment, right? Based on that I would suggest adding any color to fabric before applying the stiffener. If you're planning to paint your fabric a single color, it might be best to dye it if you can. Otherwise, there are paints that are made especially for fabric. You should be able to find some at your local craft store or order them online. If I were doing this I would make some swatches and experiment. If you try this, do let me know how it turned out!
There’s no buckram being made in the US, am told.