Is there a way to print / draw a circuit on to clothing?

Question

I'm looking for an alternative to conductive thread (since I lack some sewing skills). I have seen silver conductive pens but I'm wondering if they could be used for clothing?

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 09 '17 at 18:04

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See http://www.plusea.at/ for all kinds of wearable electronics. Gluing strips of conductive fabric is probably better than conductive glue.

How To Get What You Want by the same people has more details:

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edited Mar 09 '17 at 18:04

Community

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answered Nov 17 '09 at 05:46

endolith

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score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '09 at 09:11

Maybe conductive glue will work on fabric. It is definitely cheaper than the CirquitWriter pen so if it doesn't work, there's not much harm :) "Wire Glue" is being sold in the US but you can also try to make your own by mixing graphite and glue. There is an instructable that explains the process.

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 06 '13 at 01:13

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Xerox has just announced a silver ink for wearable and throwaway electronics. I think it's a bit early to use in your projects. The Silver Pen is an interesting idea. I don't know if it'll work!

edited Aug 06 '13 at 01:13

PeterJ

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answered Nov 03 '09 at 22:19

littlebirdceo

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score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 06 '13 at 01:09

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The Arduino Lilypad is a microcontroller board designed for wearables and e-textiles. Google this one and you will find tutorials and details. Also here is a good book about making electronics click with clothes:

Open Softwear 2nd Edition ISBN: 978-91-97-95540-9

edited Aug 06 '13 at 01:09

PeterJ

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answered Nov 05 '09 at 10:18

madaerodog

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 05 '09 at 00:01

I'm not sure how practical this would be, but screenprinting might be an option. Using a screen with a coarse mesh you can print with silver paint. You would need to do a test to make sure the paint is conducting in the way you expect. I have some articles and notes on my blog pages that might help.

Screenprinting has the advantage that you can quickly make many prints of your circuit or make t-shirts to promote your event/exhibition/party.

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 17 '10 at 05:16

Yet another alternative to conductive thread: wire.

wire-wrap wire (30 AWG) or magnet wire is pretty lightweight and flexible, although constant flexing will eventually make it break.

stranded wire is a bit thicker and heavier, but it will survive flexing longer.

I imagine you would lay it out in a sort of zig-zag or sinewave curve, gluing the midpoints, so that there's a bit of slack between each glue spot to allow the fabric to stretch a little.

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 17 '09 at 22:48

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Here is a source for all sorts of conductive paints. http://www.lessemf.com/paint.html Some of them would probably work for painting directly on fabric.

answered Nov 17 '09 at 22:48

jkopel

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 14 '19 at 10:45

Depending on the conductivity you need, there might be a solution with fabric made for clothing worn in ESD-protected areas. They contain conductive fibers to discharge static electricity. They do not necessary have a very low resistance, but might be conductive enough to sport some signal path.

You could buy such a fabric which has a conductive thread every cm horizontally and vertically. Then you can cut those threads at specific points so that it builds a kind of schematic.

A different problem is, how you can connect the threads to other circuit elements. I think conductive epoxy used in small drops might do the trick.

Is there a way to print / draw a circuit on to clothing?

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