Working with Tyvek^®

Tyvek.  Not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of doll making or art supplies, is it?  If you’re like many, the word Tyvek  conjures up images of white house wrap and a construction site, but this product is so much more than that.

 Made by Dupont, Tyvek spunbonded olefin is a multipurpose product that is described in the literature as a “family of tough, durable sheet products that are stronger than paper and more cost effective and versatile than fabrics.”  Somehow I don’t think Dupont ever imagined the uses that artists would find for Tyvek, though I bet they’d be amazed at the innovative things that have been done with it!

From a mixed media perspective there isn’t much you can’t do with Tyvek.  Because it acts like paper you can do nearly everything to it that would to paper.  You can fold it, cut it, and play with it in a multitude of ways.  You can also draw on it, paint on it, rubber stamp on it, do just about anything on it – except emboss on it.  More about that in a minute.  The good news is that it’s much more durable that paper which means it’s not going to wrinkle if you get it wet with watercolor or acrylic paint.  It can be used in collages, journals and altered books, on your dolls, in your mixed media shrines – the list is endless.  The brochure I received from Dupont was printed on Tyvek and it looks great, plus it’s really durable.

The literature discusses the various applications for Tyvek and also lists the technical specifications and limitations of the product.  One consistent message, regardless of the discussion of how to use Tyvek, is a warning about heat.  Quite simply Tyvek  doesn’t like it.  Unlike a moth which is drawn to the flame, Tyvek quite literally shrinks away from heat.  Remember that warning about embossing?  This is why - Tyvek hates heat, and you can’t emboss without heat.  What you can do to Tyvek with heat is an entirely different matter if you’re careful and imaginative.  Working with Tyvek and heat will be the primary focus of this discussion as the possibilities are unlimited.

Before you begin to work with Tyvek and heat you should be aware that there will be some fumes and odors emitted when you heat Tyvek.  Those fumes will come from the Tyvek itself and anything that you’ve applied to the surface such as paint, ink from a stamp, thread, or whatever else you incorporate in the piece.  I’m highly sensitive to perfume and odors but did not have any difficulty during my experiments.  Common sense dictates that you take precautions; wear a mask or respirator and work in a well ventilated area, or outdoors, to minimize any risk.

Tyvek is available in a couple of varieties; hard structure and fabric.  All of my experiments were conducted with hard structure Tyvek which is probably what you’re most familiar with.  It’s the stuff FedEx and USPS Priority Mail envelopes are made from.  I’m not suggesting that you raid your local post office for free Tyvek though!  You can buy it from a number of retailers and it’s available in a variety of sheet sizes and weights.  It is not suggested that you use Tyvek house wrap for art purposes.

 My work with Tyvek took several directions, but the common theme was the use of paint and heat.  Tyvek as it comes from the manufacturer is pretty boring white stuff, but it easily becomes a canvas for many different media.  I used Lumiere paint to color the surface, stamped it, applied heat and got some fantastic results.

So, how to begin?  There are several truisms when working with Tyvek.  The first is that when you apply heat Tyvek will react.  The second is that controlling the reaction is hit or miss, but with practice and persistence you will learn how to manipulate Tyvek and make it (mostly) do what you want.  Another is that heat applied to Tyvek causes bubbles, and those bubbles will form in a somewhat predictable pattern.  The easiest way to begin is to paint one side of a piece of Tyvek with some Lumiere.  Just apply the paint, don’t stress about even coverage or brush marks as you mostly won’t see them.  I used Halo Pink Gold and Halo Blue Gold and really like the results.  While the paint is drying you can assemble some other supplies.  You’ll need an iron, ironing board, a hot air gun (not a paint stripping gun – they get too hot), and either baking parchment or a nonstick pressing sheet.  I have one of the Teflon pressing sheets and have used it with good results.  I tried baking parchment but found that repeated use with high heat eventually caused it to discolor which made it difficult to see what was happening.  I prefer the nonstick pressing sheet, but use whatever works for you.  The point is to prevent the Tyvek from sticking to your iron and the ironing board.

Once the paint is dry you and you’re ready to begin you have to make your first decision.  Do you want convex or concave bubbles on the painted side of the Tyvek?  The answer to that question determines whether you apply heat to the painted or unpainted side of the Tyvek.   You need to protect both the iron and ironing board from the soft, melted Tyvek, so fold the pressing sheet in half and insert the Tyvek between the two halves.  Place the painted side facing away from you for convex bubbles on the painted side or facing up toward you for concave bubbles.  You should consider the first few attempts throw away, experimental pieces to get the hang of how hot to have the iron and how long to apply the heat.  You can even begin to apply the iron to the pressing sheet before it’s fully heated which will give you an idea of how Tyvek will react to various temperatures.  You should start with a good sized piece of Tyvek - say 5” x 5” or so.  Anything smaller may totally disappear if you apply too much heat.  Figure 1 shows the Tyvek painted and waiting for heat. 

Figure 1

Figure 2 shows what happened when I placed the piece facing away from me and applied heat. 

Figure 2

Since the painted side was away from the heat I got convex bubbles.  Notice too that there are areas where there are no bubbles, just concentrated gold color.  As the Tyvek shrinks – which is part of the bubbling process – the color of the paint becomes more concentrated.  And that’s where Lumiere becomes a wonderful asset.  Because the Halo colors have gold Pearl Ex suspended in them when the shrinkage happens the gold color becomes predominant in those areas with the bubbles retaining more of the pink color.  Cool stuff!  Notice too that the original shape of the piece of Tyvek has been retained.  The piece was cut into a rough circle and remains mostly circular after heating.  Don’t expect that on your first few pieces, but it will come with practice.

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Copyright 2005 Barbara Strembicki  You may not reproduce, redistribute, or otherwise copy this work without explicit written permission.

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