Design Wall/Pins Issues
 

Hi everyone. Once my husband and I moved turned the spare room into a sewing room for me I put up a design wall. It's made from the insulation board from a well known home improvement center. I covered it with flannel.

I was working on a large project and as I completed each square and removed it from the board I took my pins and placed them to one side on the wall. That was a few weeks ago. Today I noticed that all of those pins are rusted where I left them. I took them all out and threw them away in a container I use.

It's been very wet and humid here in south central Texas but rust, really? Am I just using the wrong pins? I have had them a while but I never expected them to rust. The ones still in the uncovered pin container are just fine as are the ones in my pin cushion. Could it be from the insulation board?

Any ideas?

It used to be very humid in my basement and my (very good) pins took some rust
unless I left them in a wool pincushion. I don't leave pins in my gravel or emery
pincushion anymore. I noticed my pins get quite blunt after using them in insulation.
Have to use emery to sharpen them. There's probably enough moisture in the air
to rust your pins. Have you considered using a dehumidifier?

I am in South Louisiana and have had pins rust. My sewing room AC/Heater is not on unless I am in there sewing. I bought a humidity gauge at WM for less than $10. Imagine my surprise when the first time I used it I found my humidity to be 76%. I bought a dehumidifier because leaving my AC on wasn't bringing the percentage down below 50%. Now I just use the dehumidifier. I made sure and got one that pumped the water down a drain. I knew I didn't want to be emptying a bucket all the time.

I am in North central Washington, very dry, use same as you for my design wall. In 4 years have never had a problem with rust on the pins. I have a lot of them I keep on the edge of my board at all times.

My question is why are you using pins? Don't your blocks stay on the flannel without them? The only time I use pins is if I want to put the whole top on the wall, then the flannel won't support the weight.

Blocks with lots of pieces will not stick, they fall from the weight from my design wall. They may stay up for a little while but will fall off. I think it's the humidity as I use the same board from Lowe's for my wall and no pins have rusted.

I just did a Jacobs ladder quilt using 9 patches instead of the 4 patch so that was 53 pieces and they stayed up there just fine. I used LQS flannel. It is really thick and I washed it a couple times first. It is in a corner of the room, so there's no traffic (me walking by & brushing against it).

I use pins all the time and my design walls are made just like you but in So CA, there is not much humidity. I would try some better quality of pins like maybe Clover pins. But them when notions are on sale at JAF.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I don't normally have to use pins but during the winter when the heat is on it gets quite warm in the sewing room, especially when the sun shines, so I put on the ceiling fan. That tends to move the air so I am more comfortable but it also loosens the quilt blocks and sometimes they fall.

Here's a link to a site that talks all about pins: http://www.createforless.com/buying-...and-sizes.aspx

I like regular metal pins as I can pick them up with a magnetic. Maybe nickel plated metal would work for your purposes- no rust but able to pick up with magnetic?

Check the wall behind your design wall, maybe? Could you possibly have a leak of some kind trapping moisture back there? It probably is humidity in the air, but the fact that the pins in the package didn't show any rust makes you wonder a bit.

I use the same kind of design wall, and I use pins -- cats, airflow from window or fan, lots of tiny seams-- all contribute to occasional block fall.

I've had a problem with my pins in my design wall also. It's make like yours....with the insulation board/flannel covered. I don't notice rust but they do blunt after a while. I don't like that & wasn't sure if they were just bad pins or the board that was causing it. Now that I read your replies to your thread I see that I'm not alone.

My wall is also from insulation board and flannel and I don't have a problem with pins rusting so far, and here in Alabama high humidity is the norm.