Eco-printing on paper tutorial: how to eco-print with a rusty can

This is one of my favourite methods for eco-printing on paper. The rust from the metal can helps you to get good results from pretty much any type of leaf or paper. If your paper gets crinkled or uneven from the dyeing process, you can flatten it again by ironing it on a low setting. Either while the paper is still wet, or after lightly misting it with water. If you have any questions about the process, please ask me in the comments below. I love helping people have success with this beautiful and magical process.
I have more eco-printing tutorials on my website, www.gumnutmagic.com
And there you can also find my range of ebooks with step-by-step instructions to eco-printing on paper and cotton.

[@veroniquestefanica7263]

Thank you for sharing a great tutorial. Cannot wait to try. Beautiful shapes, pattern and colours.

[@Fiverdog]

These are absolutely gorgeous! 💜💜💜 I need some rusty cans asap. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@oisheejoardar7042]

Stunning! Love how you did it.....♥

[@lena-brittcato3385]

absolutely gorgeous!

[@sylviestar8666]

Inspiring! You are so creative! Bravo! Thank you for sharing!

[@kayleighgarner]

Thank you for sharing! My daughter and I will be trying this in the school holidays :)

[@cassvanessa5]

This is wonderful and so inspiring, thank you!!

[@HeatherWrightArt]

Great tutorial! Beautiful outcomes, can't wait to try this!

[@miriamramos656]

Thanks so much. Magnificent technique and exposure!!

[@deenawatts3257]

These are beautiful. Love the different effects with the leaves, skins and string.

[@gumnutmagic]

The onion skins create such incredible bright colours, don’t they?

[@charlotteclip6707]

just adore that! thank you for sharing!

[@lisabarnfield1089]

These are stunning

[@TheSnailGarden]

Thank you for a great tutorial. I shall be rusting some tins asap.

[@suekelly2835]

Beautiful!

[@scrapbagstudios]

Now I'm looking for rusty cans! Thanks for sharing this and great to hear a fellow Aussie. The first 3 you unwrapped would make a great tryptich mounted together on a piece of lightly dyed paper or fabric. Individually they would make great scrolls. xoxo

[@takeiteasy7062]

I knew my rusty cans would come in useful one day and here it is!!!! I have an aluminium pan, foliage, petals, rusty thingys, string, Bockingford watercolour paper and a beautiful sunny day with time to spare because were still in lockdown here in England!!! 😎😜😷🤒 I followed your tutorial and it was so so easy!! I did it all within 2 hours. The results are good and the colours really beautiful! I'm quite proud of myself really. Im already planning another bash at this tomorrow!! I'm trying out a brass jam pot, not sure if this will change the final colours ? Thanks for inspiring me love. Your so talented.

[@gumnutmagic]

Oh wonderful, so glad you got some great first results! Yes, rusty cans are like an eco-printing secret weapon, so good!

[@ppgypsy]

Stunning...thanks for sharing

[@radhavishwanath4213]

Really Magnificent !Wow!Thanks a Lot for Sharing Ur knowledge ! It's pure magic! The outcome is Stunning!! & U r a Great Teacher!.

[@rumpaghosh5882]

This is so beautiful ..thank you 💜

[@PocketWomen]

Wow just stunning! It looks great. Thankyou for this tutorial, cheers

[@gumnutmagic]

You’re welcome, I hope it inspires you to give it a go! It’s quite easy and lots of fun.

[@PocketWomen]

@@kolekamdyn9998 Yeah I give a damn, I am always concerned about the "security" of these big companies. If they can be hacked then the average company has no chance! I am very concerned about our Government here in Australia farming out our data to a private company MyGov is not a government site but they are making us use it whenever we have to interact with Centerlink, Medicare, Family Payments and other services. They are making us use online services more and more, under the guise of convenience and Covid Safe. Thanks for exposing this flaw in Instagram's security, cheers

[@brigitteshantieaglemeare4350]

Great results!

[@susanacampos5379]

EXPECTACULAR!!!!!!! HERMOSO VIDEO!!!

[@lise-lottelundroeddik4706]

Off I go to the rusting of them cans ;) Thank you so much, what a wonderful tutorial, so beautiful your paper came out too ;)

[@gumnutmagic]

My pleasure. Have fun creating!

[@simone___estevao___]

Lindo o resuldato. Parabéns!🌸🇧🇷

[@mafish7962]

Beautiful ❤

[@amberdawnhanke7903]

That was very interesting and beautiful ❤️

[@cemantingartbatikcraftecop6164]

Great results.. tq.. Oo I regrets that my cans was throwing away some where since I'm moving to other town.. Ok I 'll start to collect many fans ☺️💪

[@foggybummers]

Exquisite. Learned SO much from this tutorial. Subscribed, thank you. Also, although I can only see the sleeves, love your top 🖤

[@zahn6201]

Sehr sehr schön!❤👍🏼

[@MarianneSelvigOlsen]

It’s extreemly beautiful and easy. I’m often going The easy Way and bye things, but now The only thing I desire is thre old cans. 😄 Thanx a lot for this introduction to eco print on paper. ❤️

[@gumnutmagic]

It’s a great craft for practising patience and DIYing! Glad you enjoyed.

[@iyalodemelony257]

I love your explanation of the materials you're using and how you got the tins to rust. I have done eco-printing on fabric and I am excited to try this method on paper. Using the tin cans for rust seems a little less toxic than using iron.

[@gumnutmagic]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it. You can also try this method on fabric, it gives really interesting results.

[@alicehogue1141]

Most interesting info

[@summerbreeze1955]

Wow amazing thanks for sharing and no alum or vinegar needed! x

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, vinegar is so overused and doesn’t really do anything, and the sizing on the paper acts as a mordant or binder, so no alum is needed either. I like keeping it simple and not adding unnecessary ingredients!

[@tiffhop3544]

Wow!!!!!😍😍😍😍...everything turned out gorgeous!!!..I am definitely trying out this method..gonna rust my cans and gather some leaves, flowers and onion skins..should be ready by next weekend💃💃..I am so excited..TFS😍😍🤗

[@gumnutmagic]

Yay, so glad this inspired you, have fun with it!

[@saghisehat1275]

Perfect👌💚🍂🍁🍃

[@emmettarts1723]

Pretty

[@sabrinaandbenji1390]

Hi ,can you make some more tutorials on here? I really enjoy your manner of explanation and I think you probably have some more things you can show us, I'd be happy to learn more, cheers

[@gumnutmagic]

Thanks for your interest, I do have plans to make more free video tutorials eventually. In the mean time, I also have instructions available on my blog and in my ebooks and ecourse- at gumnutmagic dot com

[@syedaanjum896]

Very very beautiful....... me new subscriber :)

[@lynelyneg1435]

Wow!!!

[@sukumac9013]

Thank you so much for sharing your talent. Now to start rusting some cans! Can you steam iron the finished product between clean cotton and put to dry under weighted books just to make sure it stays flat ?

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, you can iron these on a low setting, I usually mist them with water but steam ironing would work too. It really helps to flatten them.

[@mariamendes6720]

A ferrugem ajuda ao tom..o meu metal ainda não tem ferrugem. Criou tons cinza apenas. Obrigada por ensinar..

[@sperrins595]

Fabulous results!! I'll be emptying my recycling out tomorrow in search of cans!.. what kind of paper did you use? What is the best paper for a4 size sheets? Love the videos, I have subscribed 😀

[@gumnutmagic]

My favourite paper is Archs watercolour paper. You can cut or tear it into the size you need. In general, watercolour paper is a good choice although you can try on any paper.

[@trishmcgarry6624]

Hi there, thank for this very beautiful and gentle presentation, one question please, can you reuse the cans or just one time use to dye the paper? Trishi

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, you can reuse the cans many times. They will continue to rust and change over time.

[@annrosenthal8194]

Can you please explain sizing with gelatin? Thanks for the video--very informative and beautiful results!

[@louiseupshall8126]

The watercolour paper I used (arches brand) comes pre-sized with gelatin. It's not an essential ingredient, and you can really eco-print on most papers with just leaves and water and heat, but the gelatin does help produce bright prints. You can size paper yourself by soaking it in dissolved gelatin or in soy milk. I have a bit of information about preparing paper with soy milk in my eco-printing on paper ebook, Plant Poetry. It's available on my website, www.learn.gumnutmagic.com

[@ftaylor8881]

So beautiful. Thank you for sharing this video. I am wondering, is it safe to do this in an enclosed space (i.e. my kitchen) or is it better to boil the pot outside because of the iron?

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, if possible it is best to cook the pot outside. But otherwise, make sure you use a lid and turn on a ventilation fan or open a window.

[@rachelekele5022]

Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks you for this amazing tutorial... Where can I get some rusty cans????

[@gumnutmagic]

Save some normal cans from tinned tomatoes etc, soak them in salt water and leave outside to turn rusty. Lightly sanding them and/or redoing them in salt water everyday can speed up the process

[@kristelders5568]

This is aboslutely beautyul! Can you tell me, did you prepare the paper with alun or some other mordant? It looked like plane dry paper in the video. I want to try it as soon as I have my rusty cans. Thanks for sharing!!

[@gumnutmagic]

Hi, yes it is just plain paper. But it is Arches brand, which is sized with gelatin - this helps to create bright prints. Some other paper brands are actually prepared with alum, so no extra is needed. I think that it’s always worth testing plain paper and seeing how it prints before going to the effort of mordanting.

[@brigittetye1475]

Soooo beautiful!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with us...🙏 I never did it before...and I discovered this by chance because I was looking for papermaking...but I definitely will try that....really beautiful!!!😍😍 Does it have to be a metal pan?

[@gumnutmagic]

I’m so happy to help you discover this! It is a simple but enchanting process. Are you asking about the pot for cooking in? I have metal dye pots that I use specifically for this purpose but I guess you could use glass or ceramic if that is what you have on hand.

[@brigittetye1475]

@@gumnutmagic thank you so much for your answer..that is so kind...yes I'm definitely looking forward to discover this art.....🙏 What I'd like to say ...you did the video very well and I liked your sympathetic voice ....thank you again!

[@louiseupshall8126]

Thanks so much 💗

[@trishmcgarry6624]

AND, considering investing in your 'Poetry of Plants' Ebook,and wanted to check if you feel this would be a good book for someone printing using plants in Scotland or if it more aimed at Australian plants as dyes and printing uses? Thanks. Trishi

[@gumnutmagic]

Great question. I have purposefully included plants from around the world in that ebook, so you will find that you can access many of them where you are - including deciduous trees and common garden plants.

[@ArtConnect1]

Thanks for the great demo. I have one rusty can..:-) For this demo did you use 140 lbs cold press or hot press watercolor paper?

[@gumnutmagic]

I can’t remember what I used for this video, but both will work. Hot press tends to pick up more fine detail because of it’s smoothness, but I do like how the prints look over rougher textures too

[@brigittetye4427]

What do you think about adding a drop of vinegar to the water ? Have you ever tried?

[@marie-lauredechauton6756]

Magnifique!!! Pouvez-vous me confirmer votre temps de cuisson, SVP? Merci pour votre partage!

[@heilalbouzid4567]

Marvellous ! Is it possible to make the same way of printing on fabric ?

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, you can do the exact same method with fabric and get good results. But you will get better results if you prepare the fabric with a mordant first. I have lots of information about eco-printing on fabric on my website www.gumnutmagic.com

[@naomimelodie7248]

lovely! do you use allum in the boiling water?

[@gumnutmagic]

No, I sometimes use plain water and sometimes a dye bath. The rusty cans add iron to the water too. Alum isn’t necessary but it can bring out different colours

[@ThatNikonOwl]

These are so beautiful! Off to look for rusty cans now! :) Please one question...you mentioned that the watercolor paper was coated with gelatin - is that just normal gelatin from the grocery store? Thank you so much for sharing. xoxo

[@louiseupshall8126]

The watercolour paper I used (arches brand) comes pre-sized with gelatin. It's not an essential ingredient, and you can really eco-print on most papers with just leaves and water and heat, but the gelatin does help produce bright prints. You can size paper yourself by soaking it in dissolved gelatin or in soy milk. I have a bit of information about preparing paper with soy milk in my eco-printing on paper ebook, Plant Poetry. It's available on my website, www.learn.gumnutmagic.com

[@ThatNikonOwl]

@@louiseupshall8126 I have used arches brand many times for watercolor painting - but have never noticed if it was already pre-sized. I don't have any on hand now, but do have other brands. I might try sizing it myself with gelatin. I have two cans (we just took everything to the recycle drop-off)!! ! But I've sanded these and put them in an old aluminum kettle with a piece of rusted metal. Why? I have no idea. lol :D I also just collected wild mulberries in our neighborhood and will toss them in the water with the next batch I try. I've only stacked and boiled a couple of times...with half way satisfactory results. Thank you so very much for this video. I'm looking forward to perusing your site and books that are available. It was so kind of you to share this tutorial. Plus, I need to get some onions!

[@veritocarbullanca]

Beautiful . The paper is merdentado previamente with salt?

[@gumnutmagic]

The water isn’t prepared with anything. But sometimes watercolour paper contains alum, which will help it pick up the plant dyes.

[@ginniecrabtree4408]

Would pre mordanting with alum give off a stronger colour. Like the video by the way.

[@louiseupshall8126]

Yes, it would, and the alum would bring out more yellows too.

[@flawlessraw]

Hi there, what paper are you using please?

[@monicalee378]

Thank you for this video. You mention coating paper with gelatin. Can you explain further? Thank you.

[@gumnutmagic]

Some watercolour papers, including Arches brand, are sized with gelatin in the manufacturing process. So it already has it when you buy it. This isn’t necessary, but it does help produce brighter prints. It is also possible to soak paper in watered down gelatin or soy milk and then let it dry before eco-printing, if you are using a different brand of paper. Again, not necessary but it can help you get interesting results.

[@monicalee378]

Thank you for your response. I just bought your tutorial and am excited to read it.

[@arjaaikas2902]

Thank you! How long time did you boil them?

[@louiseupshall8126]

Usually for about one hour, then I let them cool in the dyebath.

[@pemikaruangsiri238]

Hi dear, I love to make natural handmade , is this method can use for fabric? Thk.from Thailand

[@louiseupshall8126]

Hi, yes you can do this on fabric too. You will get the best results if you mordant your fabric first, but even with this simple method you can get good results.

[@rafaellopez8149]

hola querida...disculpa ..no se ingles..pero descubri tu video y me enamore de tu trabajo. queria saber...si las latas de metal con las que enrollas las telas las preparas antes de alguna manera para que tengan ese color. gracias..eres muy linda.

[@gumnutmagic]

Hi, yes I rust the cans before I use them, by soaking them in some vinegar.

[@bradeedwards2505]

But where do I get 'gelatin' because i have never heard of using that, help please ???? :-) Or is there an alternative to gelatin that can be used??? :-) Beautiful paper that turned out WOW!

[@louiseupshall8126]

Gelatin can be found in the baking section of the supermarket. But it is not necessary to prepare paper with it. Just try the technique with watercolour paper, or any paper you can get, and you will get some kind of beautiful results for sure!

[@bushrakhanam5342]

That water in which you are boiing tha cans that is normal water?

[@BeautifullyAltered]

Did you say the paper had been prime with gelatine? Is that something you painted on or was on the paper when you bought it?

[@gumnutmagic]

This brand of paper (arches) has been sized with gelatine by the manufacturers, but yes you can also soak any paper in dissolved gelatine

[@BeautifullyAltered]

@@gumnutmagic Thanks.:)

[@ginniecrabtree4408]

Sorry another query when you say you size the paper with Gelatine what sort of Gelatin is this please?

[@louiseupshall8126]

The Arches paper comes pre-prepared with a gelatine sizing. It isn't a necessary ingredient, so if you are using other paper you don't need to add gelatine. But it does help bring out stronger colours.

[@irmaaracellyvaldescaballer7085]

Whath kind of paper and rope doyou use mam?

[@maregemoreno9899]

So watercolor paper - leaves flowers - rusty cans boil it for an hour and nothing else. No need to add anything to the water?

[@gumnutmagic]

You can cook your bundles in plain water, or as I have done here, add in some onion skins or leaves or other dyestuff so you get colour on the outside of the bundle.

[@Engelhafen]

I use alum - do you just mix gelatin and brush it on the paper?

[@gumnutmagic]

This paper has been sized with gelatin by the manufacturers, but yes you could brush gelatin on or dissolve it in water and soak the paper in that.

[@lindastorey2179]

could you use this system on silk or cotton fabric?

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes you can. You’ll get better results if you mordant the fabric first, but even on plain fabric you’ll get some prints and colours. Just don’t use much rust with silk, it is very sensitive to it and will become fragile.

[@lynndavis1779]

Brilliant tutorial! Thank you! Do you ever do more than one layer of paper, with plants in between?

[@louiseupshall8126]

Yes, often! You can roll up several pieces of paper and then you get double sided prints.

[@lynndavis1779]

@@louiseupshall8126 thank you!

[@radhavishwanath4213]

Can I do this method on Handmade Paper? Kindly Reply. ThankYou!

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, you can eco-print with handmade paper, but it is much more delicate so be careful unwrapping. It can be helpful to let the paper mostly dry before unwrapping so it won’t tear easily.

[@laurascoles1756]

Could you explain able the gelatin and how much?

[@gumnutmagic]

The Arches paper has gelatin added to it in the sizing process, so you don’t need to add it yourself. You can also eco-print on paper that hasn’t been sized with gelatin, but it does give brighter results.

[@lazydaisybookart474]

Do you use alum or vinegar in the water?

[@gumnutmagic]

No, it’s just plain water. Vinegar doesn’t actually do anything, and the sizing on the paper acts as a mordant or binder, so no alum is needed either. I like keeping it simple and not adding unnecessary ingredients

[@user-mi4uw5el3b]

Супер

[@adrianalopez8726]

Quisiera saber si le agregas algún producto al agua?! Y que tipo de papel es?! Si no es mucha molestia podrías traducirlo al español? Gracias!

[@gumnutmagic]

Hola. Este es papel de acuarela, pero puedes probar con cualquier tipo de papel. No agregué nada al agua además de las hojas sobrantes y la piel de cebolla. Puede utilizar el botón 'traducir automáticamente' para obtener subtítulos en español. Y tengo un libro electrónico en español sobre eco-print 'Alquimia del eucalipto' disponible en mi sitio web: learn.gumnutmagic.com/product/alquimia-del-eucalipto/ Hello. This is watercolour paper, but you can try any kind of paper. I didn't add anything to the water besides the leftover leaves and onion skin. You can use the 'auto translate' button to get Spanish subtitles. And I have a Spanish ebook about eco-printing 'Alquimia del eucalipto' available on my website.

[@janemorrow6672]

Also watercolour paper is made from cotton while for example photocopy paper is made from wood pulp.

[@gumnutmagic]

Yes, this is one reason that watercolour paper takes the dye so well. But wood pulp and cotton are both cellulose fibers, so they can both be eco-printed with any dyes suitable for plant-based fibers.

[@janemorrow6672]

Gumnut Magic ah ok thanks, I didn’t realise that.

[@amreetaaaaa]

Loved it...can you suggest any paper quality than should give this magical output

[@gumnutmagic]

Any watercolour paper is good, but Arches brand gives particularly good results. You can try on cold or hot press, and not too thick because it will be hard to wrap around the can.

[@amreetaaaaa]

thank you :) I'll surely try

[@thuNguyen-dp4be]

Why the paper was not broken by boiling process ? Thanks.

[@louiseupshall8126]

Paper is surprising tough 😆 especially watercolour paper and especially when it is held in place around the cans - that keeps it from breaking apart from the water or heat

[@thuNguyen-dp4be]

@@louiseupshall8126 Thank you for replying promptly .

[@sanjeevtamangvlog]

What about on fabric?

[@eucalouise640]

Yes, you can do the same technique on fabric, but it won’t be colourfast unless you prepare the fabric with a mordant or binder first.

[@patriciaramirez9869]

No mordent ?

[@agneshosni4787]

You don’t use vinegar or alum?

[@gumnutmagic]

Oops, sorry for the slow reply. No they are not necessary. Vinegar actually doesn't do anything. Alum can help get brighter colours but it's not necessary when eco-printing on paper, unlike on clothes where you will be washing them and wearing them outside. And the rusty can provides iron mordant anyway.

[@Linamith1]

What happens if the cans aren't rusty?

[@louiseupshall8126]

Some leaves will still create a print, but the rust helps bring out darker prints and more colour.

[@surfinia2]

How can I avoid taking ants with the plants?

[@irisdco30]

Hola. Cuántos minutos debe estar en agua?

[@gumnutmagic]

Hi, I cooked these bundles for about 1 hour

[@sandracastro6989]

Esto es tela???o otro material??porfa espero respuesta gracias

[@821elz]

What will you do with your prints?

[@gumnutmagic]

I often make little cards from them. Sometimes I draw over them or use them to cover notebooks. They are great for collage too.