elmers school glue not washing
 

Help!!!

I have had great luck with using elmers glue to baste quilts. I talked about it so much that my niece started using it. Now she had good luck and tried it again. She called me this evening because the glue did not wash completely out of her quilt

Have you guys ever had this happen? she said it does say washable school glue

any tips to help her out?

If she washed her quilt at home in a front loader, my guess is that there was not enough continuous contact with water to soften all the glue. I would suggest using a soak cycle before washing again or using a large front loader at a laundromat (a large front loader will use more water).

Oh my gosh I have never had that problem and I am about 15 quilts in. I have a new top loader that when I wash the quilts I push a button for fill and it is supposed to add more water.

she is going to let it soak this time 30 minutes.... but I have not had this problem either. I don't know if her machine is top loading or front loading.....maybe I will ask. I know mine is a top loader

Add more water to your load

I had to glue baste heavy on one quilt. I forgot why but I do remember having to wash it twice and let it soak the second time for all the glue to dissolve. No worry. Even after drying in dryer the glue will still dissolve if under water.

she must have used to much I would think. I hate glue.

ok thanks... fingers crossed for her

I made a quilt and was too heavy handed with the elmer's glue in the binding.....After ironing it it was stiff as a brick. But it was great method,.....now the embarrassing part.....I was too sorry and/or lazy to wash it and I just through it on the bed when I was done. (that was about a month ago.) Today, changing sheets and making the bed, what did I notice? the binding was soft and supple. Now I know the glue is still in there.....and will stay there until the next sunny day to hang laundry out.. But I thought this was good news....any glue not washed out will not stay stiff, but get soft and supple with use.... So meyert, just relax all will be well. (Do use more water in the wash cycle, like our old laundry machines use to have, to release the hardened glue if you are in a hurry)

Jane Quilter - thanks for your story. One time I had a quilt that I used too much glue on as well. It was stiff as a board... but it all washed out. Its good to know that the glue will soften up

I usually wash in cold water but found that glue did not completely come out with cold water. I also have a top load high efficiency washer. Once I switched to warm water I haven't had any problems.

I recently made a wallhanging following Sharon Schamber's applique methods. I used a lot of the white washable and school stick Elmer's glue. Her instructions were to soak the quilt after finishing in warm water and Synthropol for at least 2 hours, and that if the quilt is still stiff from the glue, etc., it would be because the quilt wasn't soaked for at least 2 hours. I followed her advice, and the wallhanging came out beautifully soft! Hope this helps!

It's all a function of how much water is used (and possibly the temperature). Just keep washing the quilt until the glue's gone. Tell her not to worry.

This happened to me, too. The second time I used warm water and just a little soap, and it all came clean.
After that, I always use warm water and a little soap and it all comes out. No soaking needed. Even in my HE front loader washer.

I love the glue method. So easy and fast and accurate.

I just posted a question about fray block. What I used was rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab and just dabbed it a little at a time. The fray block is washable and dry cleanable, it was on a dark fabric and it really stuck out. Have her try the rubbing alcohol,, hopefully that will help.