Adhesive Sprays: Can I Use Them?
 

So my husband went into to town and I asked him to pick up a new can of spray basting. He came home with a can of Aleene's Tacky Spray and another of 3M General Purpose Adhesive spray and said that a lady at Joann Fabrics told him they would work just as well. Will they actually work? I don't want to ruin my machine or have crunchy quilts with adhesive that won't wash out!

Do the cans say permanent? You could try on a test with scrap fabric and batting and see if it washes out.

One says permanent, the other has options for temporary bonds and permanent bonds.

Quilt basting spray is temporary and washes out after quilting is done.
Hang onto those, you might want to return them.
Jan in VA

Definitely not to be used with the intention of washing out of fabrics. ?....return them!

I wouldn't use either of those as a basting spray. You need a non-permanent bond and you also need the adhesive to wash out of the fabrics easily. If the lady at JoAnn Fabrics wasn't actually a quilter, she could be handing out very bad advice.

basting spray
 

Long before sprays were used like they are today I was spray basting 30 or so years ago. I would buy my spray at Walmart or K-Mart in the automotive department. I remember people saying it was going to ruin my machine, but it never gave me a problem.
As long as it is a fine spray and not one that spits and splatters, it will work with a light spraying. I have now switched to Elmer's spray because it is a fine spray. On my embroidery work I use a glue stick. I hoop a light weight piece of sticky back window film and run a glue stick around the inside of the hoop and lay my fabric down. The glue stick and the sticky back film is enough to keep the fabric from shifting. If the embroidery is dense, I slip one or two pieces stabilizer under the hoop.
Aleene's Tacky Spray, I think you can spray the back of an applique then tack the applique to your shirt, remove it and tack it back on a couple of times before you have to spray it again. I know we did this with my daughter's horse show clothes and vest. We would take an applique and stick it on the back of her vest and then put it on another vest for the next class.
Good Luck, Syl

I would think that Aleen's would work as it is for fabric, I think. The 3M kind, no.

The fumes will stink up everything in the room. The overspray will drive you nuts. I tried the sprays and switched to Elmer's School glue. No mess and cost pennies.

I just used spray for the first time yesterday and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. No smell, no overspray. It stuck well but wasn't permanent. I've used the Elmer's glue technique thought not as a spray; I think I'd prefer that because I can never get the goop so apply evenly.

Try and see what works for you!