"fixing" ink in fabric

[citoyen]

My son has the shirt of his favourite football team with the name and number of his favourite player on the back, and I've been lucky enough to be able to get it signed by that player*.

Thing is, he wants to be able to wear the shirt still, which means it will need to be washed.

Is there anything I can get that will "fix" the ink so there is no danger of it running/being removed when the shirt is washed? I have a vague idea that you can get some kind of stuff you spray on, but I can't find any evidence online.

If it makes a difference, it's one of those modern football shirts made of high-tech plastic. Not sure what type of pen was used to do the signing - some kind of marker. Probably hard to remove even if you wanted to, but I want to be on the safe side.

d.

*for the benefit of football fans, this is the player who scored the winning goal in the final at Euro 2008, so you can imagine what a big deal it is to an 11 year old.

[Cunobelin]

New shirt time!

Then you can flog the old one for a fortune on EBay frame the signed one for his bedroom wall.

Given the short life of modern football kit and the personal value it is worth considering.

[citoyen]

Given the short life of modern football kit and the personal value it is worth considering.

Yes, there'll be a new shirt next season, of course - plus he'll have grown out of this one by then. Then there will be home, away and European shirts. He'll be wanting me to spend £40 on a new shirt in a few months' time anyway!

If I can't find a product that does the job, I guess he'll have to make do with wearing one of his several other football shirts instead... the poor, hard done-by little mite.  

d.

[Ian H]

I seem to recall that washing in a salt solution will fix it.

[citoyen]

I seem to recall that washing in a salt solution will fix it.

Funnily enough, I have a friend who was a chemist and did a phd in dyes, and he once told me they use salt to fix dyes, so that sounds very plausible... but I don't suppose you have any more detailed information than that?

Maybe I should ask my chemist friend.

d.

[tonycollinet]

My guess is even if you find somthing to fix it, then if you wash it, the ink will still fade.

I also suspect that if a non permanent ink was used, then very little will protect it.

I would simply tell him that if he wears it, he will lose the signature.

[Polar Bear]

I have some fabric dye and some salt for fixing.   The salt is used with the dye when actually applying the dye to the fabric.   It does say on the dye packet that the dye is not suitable for polyester. 

Perhaps a soak in 250g of salt (amount of salt used when dyeing one shirt) with frequent stirring and an hour in the bucket will suffice?

[Rhys W]

Buy him an identical shirt and forge the signature. Original shirt goes on ebay!

[David Martin]

Chris Hoy's signature is still going strong on the young 'uns cycle jersey.

..d

[alexb]

If you don't know what ink was used to sign the shirt, then hang it on the wall.

If by any chance it's water soluble, the moment you add any kind of auqeous solution it will run or smudge.

Playing with salt solutions etc. is great when you are messing about with T-shirt printing etc., but it's a disaster waiting to happen when it's something that actually matters!

[citoyen]

Playing with salt solutions etc. is great when you are messing about with T-shirt printing etc., but it's a disaster waiting to happen when it's something that actually matters!

Wise words. I think you've helped me make my mind up what to do.

d.

[fuzzy]

In my experience, the only thing guaranteed to fix ink on any fabric is for the ink to be on the fabric accidentally

[giropaul]

Urine was the answer in olden days.

Cue "dad, why are you......?"

[Biggsy]

It won't disappear all that quickly if it's "permanent" marker.

Wear it, wash it, trace over the signiature with "fabric" marker pen when it begins to fade, and so on.  It'll eventually be a smudgy mess, but nevermind!

[PhilO]

Many, many (many) years ago I had a T-shirt signed by the members of a band I went to see. My mother (bless her) spent a happy couple of hours embroidering over the sigs to make them perminant...

Embroidery may not be macho enough for a football shirt, obviously! 

[CommuteTooFar]

I thought alum was the traditional mordant.