Stupid mistake :oops: , I didn't think to ask the lady when I bought a bunch of batting from her...its not labelled and I don't know what it is. I *think* it's cotton, because it's pretty heavy, but it's a BIG piece, so it could be a cotton poly blend, I've only made two quilts, one was poly batt, the other was fleece, so I've never used cotton...Does anyone know how I could tell? You know, aside from trying to melt it... :lol:

The reason I'm asking is because I'm making oven mitts and pot holders. I do have Insul-Bright, and plan to use it, but the pattern calls for cotton batting too, and I obviously can't use poly for that.

I have some wool batting...I know they would be heavy, but would it work like cotton?

How would the wool react to steam and heat?
Can you get a hold of the lady you bought it from?

If you're using it in potholders, I WOULD do the melt test.
Take a tiny piece and hold it over a flame like a lighter or a candle. If it melts before it catches fire - it's poly, and if it melts, don't use it in potholders.

lol guess that's the best way, huh?

question - will mitts and holders be heat resistant and protective enough with just a layer of insul-bright and leaving the cotton out?

no, most people use two cotton batting sqs and one insul bright.

Thanks Ladies! I did a melt test and it went up in flames, no melting at all, and for whatever it's worth, it (the burning batting) had a very natural smell, if that makes sense! :lol: So I'm feeling pretty confident that it is indeed cotton.

I've decided to do double sided oven mitts and pot holders, with different coloured, but co-ordinating fabrics on the front and back of the mitt/holder. So far, I have one side for each mitt basted, hopefully I'll finish them tomorrow for use this weekend! (It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, my hubby and I are hosting this year). I'll take pics when I'm done!

It have been my experience that cotton batting is usually a light cream color and poly batting is a white. Also, poly is usually put together so you can see little tiny openings in it. Cotton batting is more dense and usually thinner. You can usually pull poly apart without too much effort where you cannot do that with cotton. I believe that poly will melt quickly and cotton will mainly singe and burn. Hope this makes sense. My DH and I make miniature ironing boards and we always use insulbrite on the pressing surface as well as cotton batting. Hope this helps