I use water-soluble stabilizer on top of the towel which washes out beautifully. I think it would drive me nuts to try to pick out all the paper bits!
Has anyone tried over-starching fabric to help with the puckering?
I'll use a heavy tear away for the back of a towel if it's a dense design since it holds up better in the hoop but I always use wash away for the top.
I don't know if heavy starching will help with puckering. I figured out after many hours of playing around with my machines that most of my pucker issues were caused by hooping too tight and/or stabilizer issues. I stopped using tear away for most projects, went to a medium weight cut away and I don't hoop most items any more, just the stabilizer. Changing my process solved most of my issues, I rarely have puckering any more. There is so much information and tutorials out there on the net, you just have to figure out which process works best for you.
Cari