Steaming

[Maria Jürimäe]

Dear silk painters,

How many of you use steam-fixed colors, and how do you fix them?
I have steamed at home with steaming-pot, but it is not my favourite part of silk paitning.
Does anyone use some kind of professional steamers?
Where could those things be found (in internet), how much do they cost?

[Lynn Meek]

Maria - looks like you've had a lot of good suggestions - check out www.karensistekstudio.com - she's a member here and has great detailed instructions and pictures for building a steamer on her website - she's incredibly generous in sharing silk painting tips and an incredibly talented painter. Lynn

[Maria Jürimäe]

HI Pauline,

and thank you for this information! This steamer seams really expensive - we were thinking about buying a steamer to our studio, but maybe it is wiser to build one ; ))

[Lynn Meek]

Maria - I just built a steamer similar to Gina's - and similar to what Karen Sistek describes on her website www.karensistekstudio.com. I found a great appliance to use: a Presto Kitchen Kettle multi-cooker/steamer. It came from Walmart - $20 or $30 I think. The 8" stovepipe fits inside with less than 1/2" clearance around it. I stuffed a flexible piece of plastic tubing into the gap to make a tight seal. You can get a roll of foil backed rubber insulation to put around the pipe to keep the heat in. I drilled two holes at the top of the pipe to put a dowel thru. then made a long narrow bag out of old thin cotton and sewed a small loop handle at the top that I thread the dowel thru and the silk hangs in the bag. I've used it twice and am very pleased with it -- temperature gauge on the steamer goes from 200 up to 400 so I can keep it at a constant temperature for the steam. I don't think the entire price was more than $50 or $60.

[Maria Jürimäe]

Thank you Lynn,
it seems that we have to begin building a steamer so your and other's instructions and tips are really welcome! Thank you fro sharing them!

[Patti Van Horn]

Hi, this question is for Lynn, When you put your silk into a cloth bag is it wraped in newsprint or in a tube shape? Thanks, Patti

[Janet Roberts]

Hi Maria,

I use an old pressure cooker to steam my silks. It is fine if you dont want to steam too much at a time. I use the basket supplied with the cooker and put my bundle of silk (wrapped in old sheets for flexibility) in that on a piece of kitchen paper and with a foil paper 'hat' on top. To keep the bundle and basket out of the water I use a metal (trivit?)grid on legs from a microwave but you could use an upturned bowl or similar. I steam at high pressure for 3/4 hour and wash iron as normal. Quick and simple. Hope this helps.
Janet

[Maria Jürimäe]

Thank you! I have used a cooker/steamer too, but using a pressure cooker seems to be a good idea. But as you wrote - it is OK if you dont want to steam too much at a time. My problem is that I sometimes need to steam more - like 40 scarves to a conference or the works of my students after a course and then something bigger is needed.
I actually have used some steamers that use the pressure too (not by myself, I have let my silks steamed there) but these steamers are really large and expensive and I am not steaming AS much too to buy one. . . So I think I have to build one sooner or later ; ))

[Shelley Faye Lazar]

No one from this site actually helped me in my predicament, but in the end, I found a reasonably priced "fish steamer" from www.greatart.co.uk The reason I couldn't find it myself was because I googled steamers, and on this site they call them "fixers". I have used one like this for absolute years with no complaints.