I use an old towel then side that with denim and then put the insulated batting and then pretty fabric on the outside. Makes the best potholders ever.:)

I use a layer of Insul Brite and one layer of cotton batting.

Forgot to add that Insul-Brite is only reflective on one side of the material so it is suggested that the reflective side be placed at the back or working side of the potholder to reflect the heat away from the hand.

I don't like stiff potholders. I use two layers of Quilter's Dream Select weight.

I used to use only warm and natural-but the heat travels thru pretty quickly.Now I use a layer of insulbrite and a layer of warm and natural.Insulbrite has a thin metallic layer that reflects the heat back to the other side-so you can hold the hot item longer before feeling the heat

I use an old mattress pad made of cotton. Around the edges it was like new but the middle was worn thru. Just this week I threw away a pot holder made from this about 20 years ago. It is thick enough to handle the hottest pans and I make them about 6 x 10 inches so they are bigger than my hand.

Make sure the batting you use is 100% cotton if you don't use all insulbrite. I like to have both, but I don't like the potholders stiff.

QuiltnLady1 has the important tip, that is to never use poly as any layer, cause it will melt. Just 100% cotton.

Insulbright and warm and natural batting. I use either or both depending on what I have on hand. They both work great. I do use two potholders when I'm grabbing out of the oven with the ones that just have a layer of warm and natural.

This is how I'm doing it. I made a potholder this weekend for a gift.