I was taught to use tear away when I bought my first machine and quickly discovered that I'm not a big fan of it. It's last on my list of preferred stabilizers. I much prefer using anything else. The type of stabilizer depends on what fabric you're using and the intended finished project. Don't let the embroidery police influence you, let your own experience tell you what to use. I always do at least one test stitch out to see if I need to use a different stabilizer, if the design is going to stitch out correctly, and if I want to make any changes to the colors. There are many charts for choosing the correct stabilizer for the project, I think of them as a guide, not as hard and fast rules most of the time. I've never heard of a spray stabilizer, can you post a link?
Cari