Any ideas on how to keep ribbon from bleeding?

[Reminders of Him]

I have seen some beautiful cards on SCS with ribbon that has been dyed. I tried using white 5/8 inch grosgrain and a Classic Ink Pad. The ribbon looks great, but when I put it around cover stock it still bleeds onto the cover stock. I tried using my heat gun and iron. I have had the ribbon air drying a week and a half and it still bleeds. The climate is very dry in my house. Has anyone figured out a way to dry the ribbon? Maybe, I need to start over and use reinkers and water? Does that work better? Any ideas will be appreciated!

[Lynn in St. Louis]

I have never experienced what you describe, but something you might try is after your ribbon is completely dry, try coating it with Stiffy. It's a product made to give ribbon sizing, sort of like starch. This wouldn't probably work if you wanted to tie a pretty bow, as the Stiffy makes the ribbon...well, stiff, so wrinkling and creasing would be a problem with bow tying.

You can find Stiffy at Michael's or most fabric stores.

But if you are just wanting to stop your ribbon on the card stock from bleeding, it might be something to try.

My next question would be, what type of card stock are you using?

[Reminders of Him]

Thanks for the suggestion! That got me thinking. Until I can get to a Michael's, about 30 miles away, I can try acrylic spray on the card stock and the backside of the ribbon. It can't hurt the project! I checked the card stock scrap that the ribbon was bleeding on. It was Beckett, Cambric Linen, 80 lb. cover stock.

[Lynn in St. Louis]

I would think that linen card stock would be very porous, making it more susceptible to soaking up the ink. You might even want to try a different card stock, or perhaps a band of the different card stock under your dyed ribbon. If I were you, I would try your dyed ribbon on various types of card stock and see what gives you the least amount of bleeding.

Best of luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reminders of Him

Thanks for the suggestion! That got me thinking. Until I can get to a Michael's, about 30 miles away, I can try acrylic spray on the card stock and the backside of the ribbon. It can't hurt the project! I checked the card stock scrap that the ribbon was bleeding on. It was Beckett, Cambric Linen, 80 lb. cover stock.

[Reminders of Him]

Well, the ribbon will touch, some SU sage shadow, some of the Linen, and vellum when it is done. So, I sprayed, with some acrylic matte sealer, everything with a couple of coats including both sides of the dyed ribbon. The card looks very nice. I'll have to wait to see if it works! I appreciated the suggestions!