I stack my potholder like this: outside fabric top, cotton batting, insulbrite, cotton batting and bottom fabric.. makes for a stiffer pot holder and Quilts nice then I bind it..... I don't use dish towels or hand towels because one day I grabbed one that was damp and oh boy did the heat go right through to my hand... you could use the dish towels as the fabric to use but I would still use insulbrite and the cotton batting... I wouldn't use poly batting because with hot dishes it could MELT. and the new mattress pads are mostly Poly fill now Too..