Homemade Alcohol Inks

Alcohol Inks are highly expensive...considering what they are. So, making our own alcohol inks can potentially be insanely helpful. I decided to try these out, and see if the homemade version compares to the purchased versions, such as Ranger Inks. 


Here's what you'll need:
Empty Spray Bottle(s)
Rubbing Alcohol 

Powdered Drink Mix (unsweetened)

I have no link to an original tutorial on this one, since it's so simple. All you do is mix alcohol with unsweetened drink mix. Put it into a spray bottle, and you're done. The hardest part was finding the spray bottles. Empty bottle can be purchased at stores like Walmart, in the travel size section (where you buy the tiny soaps and shampoos). Or, you can use some old tiny body mist bottles like I did. 

Most tutorials that I found said to add the powdered drink mix to the bottle, poor the alcohol in, and shake. Since my bottle were so small, I chose to pre-mix the ingredients in a foam cup first. This also helped keep those little undissolved bits out of my bottles, which I will discuss shortly.

I tried 3 different brands ...here are the results --

Cherry, Wylers. I used two packs, and a 1/2 alcohol. The spray dries into a reddish/pink color. However, the drink mix does not dissolve well...and several tiny spots of the mix itself also come out of the spray nozzle. It adds an interesting effect, if that's what you're after. 

Purple, Flavor-Aid. I used two packs. This color worked great on paper (although you can't really see it). This brand of mix dissolved the worst...leaving a lot of undissolved bits at the bottom of the foam cup (see photo below). 

Lots of undissolved drink mix in the Flavor-Aid version. 

Blue, Kool-Aid. This may be the best, as the best...I only used one pack of mix to get this pretty color. It did have some undissolved bits, but that seems to be something we have to live with. 

Here are all the colors/brands, sprayed multiple times (and shown a bit wet). 

Overall, I would say this method of making our own alcohol inks works fairly well. Kool-Aid did have the biggest color 'impact' for the buck. Flavor-Aid and Wylers are a close second.

The biggest tip I can offer is to do as I did, and dissolve the powders as much as possible before adding them to a spray bottle. Those little bits can clog the spray nozzle, or even come out onto your project. Be aware, however...alcohol dries fairly quickly and you do not want to leave it sitting in a cup for too long--it will evaporate. 

Depending on which application you are using these inks for, some may not work out as well (such as stamping). For adding a hint of distressed color to paper--this will work.