Toner reactive foiling on bookcloth? Does it work? The Veredict.
This post asking if toner reactive foil would work on bookcloth - Link HERE - was my first post made here... 3 years ago. And 3 years later, I come back with my findings. This was completely experimental, I am a n00b doing things MacGyver style.
In the original post, people far wiser than myself told me not to do it, that it would most definitively damage the laser printer or that the toner probably would not stick. So I got an old, cheap second hand printer (Epson AL-M400), to prevent myself from losing my mind should this not work and I'd end up ruining a brand new printer. I have no access to a cutting machine (Europe based, our libraries do not carry craft corners) and I really wanted the foiled look on binds I wanted to eventually make.
So I tried it, it did work, as you can see the toner did stick. I used a piece of white bed sheet (cotton with a small % of elastane), backed with Heat'n'Bond and silk paper. My first try got stuck in the printer, so in the second try I taped it to a piece of printer paper and it went through with no problems.
The printer setting were: Paper type: semi-thick; Print Quality Fine; Visibility: For color Graphs and images. The first time I tried max toner output in the best printing quality and it got stuck in the printer (with no extra sheet of paper as backing).
And as you can see in the first two photos, the toner stuck to the fabric. So I ran it through my laminator with some foil. The foil didn't bond in the middle because I had overlapped foil, I guess it didn't get enough heat to stick. I used a clothes iron (temperature set to the lowest it could be on) to make the foil stick in the middle and other places that had gaps.
[Video of Foiled Sheet] The foil stuck at about 90% overall, there were some really small details that probably didn't have enough buildup to stick the foil. I didn't press too much - maybe I should've - but I was afraid to lift the foil in the places it had stuck on already.
So basically yes, it does work, on real fabric even. But not without CONS. My foil is cheap - right out of Aliexpress - but I guess any kind of foil it will rub off eventually. With casing in the book, as you can see in the photos, some of it rubbed off from the spine with my quite rough handling of it. Just holding it leaves shinny flecks on my fingers. I could try some fixative spray, but I am afraid of yellowing the fabric. I guess if you laminate the fabric before casing in the book, the problem is solved?
(Video of the foil after casing and handling. Please, ignore the book's construction flaws, it's my very first finished bind and cutting and gluing things at night in low luminosity is not a good idea, kids).
There is a binder on Instagram that printed and foiled on actual bookcloth, so it will work too that way. If hers rubs off like mine does, I didn't ask, I only watched a couple of stories of her doing it - xkokonati on Instagram -.
So, TL;DR: I tried it and it worked, toner printed on home-made bookcloth made out of a smooth mostly cotton sheet backed with Heat'n'Bond and silk paper. The foil stuck, but will rub off if you handle the book too much.
Would I recommend doing this? Only if you are just getting into the hobby and absolutely have no other option of attaining the foil look, if you're not making something expecting it to last and only if you have no problem in quite possibly damaging your printer. Will work if you want to make a trophy piece that will not be handled much.