Using markers on shrinky dinks?

Question

can you not use water-color markers on those things?

and if not, which marker brand can you use on them?

Answer 1

You can use lots of colorants on shrink plastics, and I believe most of them will be reasonably permanent because they'll get "encased" in the plastic as they're shrunk.  

Some colorants may be easier to use though... and/or have the ability to get more detail, etc.

You will usually want to sand the shrink plastic before applying many of the colorants though just to give the surface more tooth and allow for more control in where you're applying the colorants (sand lightly, in at least two directions, with 320-400 grit sandpaper --sanding in only one direction will allow some colorants to "bleed" in that direction because the sanding creates tiny long scratches).

You can also seal if you want to be sure, or if you want to add gloss, etc.  

There's more info on coloring and using shrink plastics on this page of my site, if you're interested:

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/MISC.h...

(...click on the sub-category called *SHRINKING* plastics...)

Also, there are a lot of sites online that deal with using shrink plastics... here's one example of info on shrink plastics at Tyra's "Cloud 9" site.

http://netnet.net/~cloud9/tips/tips_shri...

http://netnet.net/~cloud9/prod_reviews/p...

There are also loads more ideas and info in these links for using various types and brands of shrink plastic:

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+sh...

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

Use Sharpie markers. If you use a water based marker, it will rub off or wash off when wet.  You can also use colored pencils.