My friend and I have been testing my new Frixion pen this morning. The package says if the pens get too hot, cool them down to make color reappear. I knew that ironing caused the color to disappear, but if I put my quilt in the car and it gets down to zero, will all my lines reappear????
Well, so far, that is what has happened.
1. We tried putting the sample in the freezer after we had ironed the color out, and it all came back clear as could be.
2. We tried washing it in clear water, drying then freezing and again the lines reappeared totally.
3. The last test, I scrubbed the piece with detergent, rinsed, dried and froze--those lines did NOT reappear.
CONCLUSION: if you really want to be sure the marking lines are gone, you had better wash your quilt top with detergent.

Thought this might be of interest. I think the pens are relatively new. The quilt shop owner just showed us how the lines vanished with heat--we were curious about the effect of cold after reading the fine print on the package.

Thank you for sharing your experiments/conclusions with us :D:D:D

Good information! I always wash my quilts in detergent before I give them away. Thank you!

sorry, sticky fingers :lol:

I am going to pick up some of those pens tomorrow at my LQS. She showed us them at our last class. I was too slow to get one then and all were sold. She showed how to remove the lines with a blow drier. It took longer than the iron. It great to know that the quilt has to be washed to get the marks gone for good. Thanks for doing all those tests.

Thanks for sharing. Good to know. I have had some questions about what to use for marking. Know now to read the fine print. Thanks again.

They sell them at Staples too.

I got a pkg. Of three for $5.27 at Target. My LQS sells them for $3.00 each.

yes, they are now available through all of my distributors/suppliers..BUT there has been a lot of talk about how the INK which is chemical based stays in the fabric even with washing...

now they are scurrying to decide if they should market them or not for quilting...

I figure it is a big DUH..anytime you put a chemical on a fiber like cotton, it will become embedded in that fiber...and there it will remain!

LIke one lady said, what if she lives in Australia and sends a quilt to Houston in OCT/NOV...the lines could end up reappearing in the cargo hold of the jet! and who would know to IRON the quilt and make them go away...NOT all quilts are washable..like art quilts...so then what???

BEst just to use what does not stick to fabric at all..and leave the chemicals behind!

I wondered about the chemicals left in the fabric, so thanks for doing the testing! Since all my quilts are meant to be washed, this might be something I can use after all. I had hesitated to even try them, fearing that the chemicals might gradually eat lines into the fabric! If it washes out, though, that should not be a problem.