last time I did any type of fusible applique, silly me tried to applique the fabric to the iron instead of to the background (piece was upside down :-(). Of course I was at my mom's using HER iron. She told me to take a large piece of wax paper, fold in half a couple of times (so it's 4 or 8 layers thick, but still bigger than the iron plate). Lightly iron the was paper for a few seconds and then wipe iron with a clean hand towel. Repeat several times.