I try to get most of my supplies at Hancock's. Here the first 3 Wed of the month is either military discount or senior citizen. I like the fact that this discount is applied on top of all other discounts, you don't have to be in your 60's to particpate, I'm 59 and have been using it for a few yrs and its always the first 3 Wed of the month. Unlike the competitor that doesn't have a certain set day for thier discount.

the only thing I would say is... cotton batting!! Polyester WILL melt! I bought really nice microfiber dishcloths and towels, and within a week, tried to wipe up a spill on my smooth cooktop, and yup! You guessed it... melted it!!! :(

It's obviously not absolutely necessary but it's a nice addition to make sure you don't burn your fingers. If I was making the potholder for someone else I'd use insulbrite.

$4.00 for what? I don't understand that.

I have some potholders made with just 2 layers of an old terry towel. Must be 30-40 years old. A few burn holes have been mended. A friend threatened to buy me some new ones, but I said, "Please don't. I won't use them." When people come over, I dig a little deeper in my drawer and pull out some nicer ones, but these old ones are still my favorites.

When I started sewing (not too long ago) I made a bunch of potholders using one layer of Insulbrite. I had a potholder for 20 years that I got when I was in Pennsylvania at an Amish store (guess I should have known back then about my calling to quilt) and that potholder only had a thin piece of batting. I made Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas potholders. Then I read about how you need to have two layers, one Insulbrite and one regular cotton batting so I decided to not give away the potholders I made so I ditched them and made new ones with the two layers. I admit is it not as much fun this way but I know they are safer.

I have never used it. Made lots of pot holders. I made the folded star pot holders out of Christmas fabric 2 years ago and use them all year long. They still look brand new.

When using insulbrite is there a front and back......

I bought insul-bright and have the instructions that came with it. There's no information about which side of the in-sulbright should face the heat. I went to the insul-bright website and they don't tell you which side to put toward the heat, either. This should be easy to figure out!!! Does anyone know which side of the in-sulbright should face the heat?

I have previously used the "silver" fabric that years ago was used for the tops of ironing board covers. When Insul-Brite came on the market I purchased a few yards to make a long table runner for my DS and DDIL to protect their buffet, as regular products did not keep the coffee pot from destroying the top from the heat. So far they have been very pleased with it's performance. When making pot holders I would use the Insul-Brite along with a layer of cotton batting. I would just piece bits of left over batting for the pot holders and oven mitts, so the "left-overs" were put to good use. I like the way that Insul-Brite has performed when I've used it for pot holders and oven mitts, and it doesn't take much to make a pot holder.

[QUOTE=maviskw;6228138]$4.00 for what? I don't understand that.

maviskw, what I meant was if you buy say 1/3 of a yard of the silence cloth for $4.00, you can get enough batting for six 10" potholders out of it, because the fabric is 60" wide. However, that does not allow for shrinkage, and Silence cloth does shrink.