Frixion Pens

[Betty J.]

just use heat not steam

[Betty J.]

I use on my quilts as I hand quilt and use a warm iron to remove and its great

[Pamela N.]

I would love to see your exhibition Betty Jo, if it is exhibited online please let us know. Well done and congratulations!
Best Wishes Pam

[Dawn S.]

BJ.....way cool! Congratulations! I'm glad it was at Houston Festival so I was able to see it there! And, you too, of course! :P

Dawn,
In beautiful Northwest Monatna

[Judith A.]

I did my test. I only had a black Frixion pen, so that is what I used.
I prewashed a black batik with Synthrapol in the washing machine with 3 rinses until the water ran clear.
I cut a sample of the black fabric and wrote "TEST" on it with the black Frixion pen. I thought the pen had gone dry, because I couldn't see the Frixion pen marks on the black fabric. So I tested it on white paper. The pen was fine.
Then I ironed the sample.
I was very surprised to see the word "TEST" appear in gray as I ironed. (Picture attached - hopefully)



I repeated the test on prewashed black Kona cotton. Gray marks appeared on the black Kona cotton also.

Judith

[E.M. T.]

Not a surprise....we've been told....now you know for yourself !

[Betty J.]

Hmmm...I wonder if the grey marks would go away on your test if you used Resolve Oxi-action Laundry stain remover, as Dawn suggested. Anyway, I think I'll stick with the Crayola Washables and the Bohin or Fons and Porters mechanical marking pencils. I have ordered some of the Clover white pen markers to give them a try on some black silk Radiance. I'll report back when I get it and give it a try. I'll even put the test in the freezer, just to check.

[Judith A.]

Test Update:
I wanted to see if the Frixion marks would wash out after ironing them.

1. I marked another sample. This time I marked a white fabric with the black Frixion pen, and ironed it. The marks disappeared.
2. I put the white fabric sample and the black batik and Kona black samples in the freezer and the marks reappeared.
3. Then I serged the raw edges of all three marked samples - so they wouldn't fray away - and put the three marked samples in the washing machine with some towels I was washing. I used warm water and lots of regular laundry detergent. I set it for the heavy cycle and 3 rinses. (I set it for three rinses to make sure all that extra detergent was rinsed out of my towels. )
When I unloaded the washer, the Frixion marks on the three samples were gone.

4. Then I put all three samples in the freezer overnight.
This morning the Frixion marks were still gone, after spending the night in the freezer.

My conclusions:
I know that heat will set a lot of stains and chemicals on cotton fabric. So even if the Frixion marks "disappear" temporarily with ironing, the Frixion chemicals are still there.
However, my humble test indicates that there is a good chance of getting all or most of the Frixion chemicals out of cotton - even though it has been ironed or subjected to freezing cold - by washing in warm water and plenty of detergent and agitation. I think the towels helped provide more agitation.

I would not do this with an art quilt not intended to be washable, of course.

Judith

[Rita C.]

What a great test you have done Judith. Thanks for that. And interesting results. I will continue to use frixion pens and not worry about it. :cheer:

[Susan S.]

Wow! I love this!

[Susan S.]

Well total newby error! I was awe struck by the piece Sewdreamy posted!

[Renata L.]

...I am looking for a good marker that will show up on black silk or black silk/cotton Radiance and not rub off before I get just a little ways into the quilting. I usually don't wash black silk based quilts, so I can't use Crayola Markers on it even if they showed up, but you can't see them. Also, markers for any color silk that isn't going to be washed would be so wonderful. I tried the Frixion on silk, and it did disappear with ironing, but came back on the piece I put in the freezer for testing...

BJ, I just spoke with someone who quilts on silk. She says that she uses a Roxanne's Water Soluble Chalk Silver pencil on her dark silks with a light hand, does NOT wash the marking out but a touch of the iron seems to get the residual off the surface of the silk fabric. I can't vouch for this approach since I have not tried it, but thought I would at least pass it on, if you had not tried it. She also said that she occasionally uses a Clover chalk wheel to mark her silk. I'm sure you could not mark an entire quilt and then start quilting. I have to assume that you would mark a portion of the quilt, then quilt and move on to mark another section.

[Betty J.]

Thanks Renata. I'll give it a try before I start my next silk quilt.

[Dawn S.]

I was going through my Houston Festival show catalog, when I spotted an ad that was interesting, so thought I would share. It is for a product called Blue Line Eraser. They claim lines will go away and stay away. I'm wondering if it might also work with the Frixion pens as well. It can be researched at BlueLineEraser.com. (I haven't gone there yet, but even if they don't make a good case for the Frixion line removal, I'd still like to try it!)

Meanwhile, I accidentally hit a centering dot on an appliqué face I am working on, with the iron. It was air disappearing ink, but became very strong once ironed. Thankfully, it was just a small dot, but even so it showed. So, I had to shorten my lady's chin! There was just too much work into it already, to start over again!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

[Betty J.]

Dawn, Maybe you could have put a mole on her chin and called it a "Beauty Mark"... :lol: