marbledfabrics76

We CAN fill orders within the following sizes: 20 x 20 inches, 17 x 22 inches, 60 x 27 inches, 18 by 22 inches, 18 x 36 inches.

We CANNOT do yardage beyond 3/4 yard (45 x 27 inches); it requires a much larger tray and can be cost-prohibitive. We have found over the years (especially in our own experimentation) that a 3/4 yard piece, with careful attention to laying out a pattern, can work - we can create pieces in one marbling session that can be very close to duplicates - we need to know that before we start the marbling session.

Pre-treating and heat-setting: when you receive your fabric, it has gone through several states - a pretreating to remove fixative and chemicals, especially from overseas processing, and this pretreating takes care of any shrinkage.

Heat-setting sets the paint through ironing and laundry dryer. You should not need to pretreat for bleeding fabrics. If you are doing heirloom work, be sure to always wash gently, with blue Dawn - no Woolite - and air-dry. Use sizing (not starch) for pressing when complete.

Yes - the process tries to duplicate within reason the traditional techniques used by centuries-old practitioners of marbling. We do not grind our own paints, and we do not use horse-hair for our brushes. We use distilled water, carrageenan (which is a common food additive) and alum (also used in the pickling process). Paints are water-based from Utrecht. We use Synthrapol and Soda Ash - also common with dyers. All material is disposed of in a proper manner so there is no contamination of the water supply.

It is rare that we do wholesale - marbled fabric is extremely labor-intensive, so consequently it is not "cheap" in price. For businesses that keystone at 50%, the fabric almost becomes prohibitive in cost.

However, if you know you have a customer base that will pay the cost for hand-marbled fabrics, email us an d we can discuss it.

In a word, not too much. We don't want to be an assembly line of products, like pillows, for example. We do carry finished items, and we are creating patterns from our fabrics for the DIY-er. Our focus is on providing you the fabric and leaving us time for new marbling and the creation of textile art from these fabrics.

It can be anywhere from a week to six weeks, depending on availability of materials, pretreating, ordering from suppliers, or creation of new marbling patterns. We keep you posted on all the steps, and where possible we send you pictures in progress.

Absolutely. We require 50% up front, of which 25% of that is non-refundable. The rest is due upon completion of the order and prior to mailing. We set up special orders in our Etsy shop that you can then order in the two parts. This has worked well for us in the past.

No handling costs. We try as close as possible to estimate shipping, depending on the location of the buyer. What we have done in the past is refund through Paypal any shipping costs beyond what it actually costs us. We can do insurance, tracking - we have had very good luck with USPS.