community of dyers

you can also mix pigments with golden gel mediums and add GAC900 textile medium,also by Golden, to make the mix more fluid.
i personally use soft gel semi gloss.
expect some change in the hand of the fabric.
best,

neki rivera

You do, in fact, need some sort of clear paint to stick the Pearl-Ex or any other pigments onto the fabric. Dyes do not require any external glue to stick them on, since they react directly with the fabric, but pigments do not react at all. Pigments are just tiny particles with no affinity for fabric. The acrylic fabric paint binder acts as a glue.

The best way to make Pearl-Ex pigments stick to fabric that's going to be washed is to mix them with a clear fabric paint, such as the Neopaque clear colorless extender. Dharma sells it in jars ranging from 2.25 ounces to one gallon each. Don't apply this until after you've done your dyeing and washed out the excess dye. Pearl-Ex will look great on top of your dye. The fabric paint binder will act as a resist to further dyeing (an idea you can use if you're careful that the paint soaks through and covers the back of the fabric as well as the front, and don't forget to heat-set before rewetting).

Note that the Neopaque clear extender must be heat-set after drying by pressing it with a hot iron, or by heating it in a commercial dryer (home dryers don't reliably get hot enough). Alternatively, you can add some Jacquard Air-Fix before use so that it will set at room temperature. (I don't think Dharma sells this—you could call them and ask—but Jerry's Artarama does.)

Jacquard fabric paints can be diluted with up to 25% water before use. That means adding one part of water to three parts of paint. Adding more water may give smoother but less reliable results, which is sometimes a good thing. If you go beyond the instructions by adding more water than they recommend, some of the pigment particles may wear off more quickly. Always experiment on something small and inexpensive before doing a complex or important project.

-Paula