How to Heat-Set Painted Denim
Published Dec. 2019 | Updated Oct. 2025
Heat-setting is the final step after you are finished painting on denim with acrylic paint and fabric medium. It makes your painting permanent on denim, so it can be washed and worn without coming off!
This guide will walk you through how to heat-set your painted denim properly. There are three methods to heat-set painted jeans and jackets, all of which are included in this tutorial.
You do not need any sort of top coat or protective layer over your painting — heat-setting is all you need to protect your painted denim.
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What is Heat-Setting?
Heat-setting is the process of applying directed heat to an area of painted fabric to make it permanent.
This must be done to ensure your painting doesn’t wash, flake, or peel off.
Using a heat source, like an iron, on painted denim causes the acrylic paint and fabric medium to react with the heat and permanently adhere to the denim.
When To Heat-Set Painted Denim?
Heat-set your painted denim once you are completely done with your painting, and it has had 12-24 hours to fully dry.
You don’t need to heat-set after each layer, and heat-setting before you paint doesn’t do anything. Even if it takes a couple of weeks to paint your denim, you still do not need to heat-set until you are done painting.
Make sure you peel the tape off BEFORE heat-setting. You don’t want to start any fires or burn the tape.
Heat-Setting Safety
Ventilation
According to Golden Acrylic, GAC 900 Fabric Medim releases low levels of formaldehyde when heated. If you use an iron or blow dryer, ensure you heat-set it in a well-ventilated area.
Golden Acrylic recommends using a fan to blow the air outside and having windows open during the heat-setting process.
If you use a clothes dryer, you do not need to worry about ventilation since dryers are already vented to the outside.
Heat/Burning
Heat-setting painted denim causes the painted areas to get very hot as they bond to the denim. Do not touch the painted areas after heat-setting until it has completely cooled down.
Ensure you use the proper temperature on the iron to avoid damaging the denim. If you painted on 100% cotton denim, it should be able to withstand the high heat. Check the tag on your denim for care instructions.
Hair dryers and clothing dryers can vary in temperature. Dryers at home do not get as hot as industrial dryers at laundromats.
Methods For Heat-Setting Painted Denim
There are three methods you can use to heat-set your painted denim. I’ve listed them in order of best method to least recommended method. This method is for denim painted with acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium.
For more information about the best paint and supplies for painting denim, visit my paint and supplies guide.
How to Heat-Set With an Iron
The best way to heat-set painted denim is with an iron. I use a small travel iron and it’s perfect!
1. Ensure you have proper ventilation — open windows with a fan or heat-set it outside.
2. Set the iron to the max setting (or cotton if your iron has that setting) and turn off the steam. Do not fill it with water! You don’t want to steam your painting.
3. Turn your denim (jeans or jacket) inside out and put it onto the ironing board with the board inside the denim. If you don’t have an ironing board, put a folded-up towel inside the jeans and place them on a hard surface.
4. Iron the backside of the painting. DO NOT iron on top of the painting itself or you might end up destroying both the painting and the iron.
Iron for 5-7 minutes total, taking a break after each minute to let the denim cool down.
Move the iron constantly — do not leave it in one place for more than a few seconds to avoid burning the fabric/paint.
Let the painted denim cool down completely before handling it. The painted areas will be VERY hot after heat-setting.
How to Heat-Set With a Clothes Dryer
If you don’t have an iron, you can turn the jeans or jacket inside-out and toss them in the clothes dryer for 30-40 minutes on high heat.
You can put multiple pairs of painted jeans and jackets in the dryer to heat-set them all at the same time. Just be sure they are turned inside out to prevent the rough denim of one pair from rubbing the paint off of another pair.
Again, check the care tag on your denim to make sure it can withstand high heat in the dryer.
How to Heat-Set With a Hair Dryer
If you don’t have an iron or access to a clothes dryer, you can try using a hair dryer.
I don’t recommend this method because hair dryers don’t get the painted denim as hot as the other methods, but it is better than nothing.
Set the hair dryer on high heat and blow-dry the front and back of the painting for 30–40 minutes total, taking breaks every 5-10 minutes to let the jeans and hair dryer cool down.
This won’t work well for a larger painted area, like a jacket, because it would take far too long to evenly heat every part of the painting for long enough to properly heat-set it.
After Heat-Setting
Once your jeans are properly heat-set, they will feel more flexible and will hold up better through wearing and washing.
They will have a slightly different texture and will likely be slightly shinier if you used a lot of fabric medium mixed into your acrylic paint.
