But I have also read people who have washed and it DOES come out. So I guess there are different results from washing.

yep...and since it is a CHEMICAL in the fibers, you never know what other chemical will hit it and make it reappear in the future!

That's a good point too. Chemical reactions to other chemicals are unpredictable.

Yes, the air soluable one are still there and sometimes they do show up again after you wash them or iron over them. Even with the blue ones that are supposed to wash out, I have had them show up again too. One thing I was told later was to NEVER iron over either the air or water soluable pens. Live and learn.

I marked all over a white cotton tone on tone with every color of the pens I have in the set. I didn't iron it. I washed the fabric in a load of towels and dried it with the towels in the dryer. I put it in the freezer (sub 0) over night. No marks appeared. I am sure the ink washed out.

I used one to do some markings. Ironed it, lines disappeared. I put it in the freezer overnight and nothing reappeared.

I believe an important word in Charlotte's test is "the ink is always in the fabric". Even if it disappears it is still there and who knows what might happen in the future to bring it out other than the cold. This is the same with the purple disappearing ink fabric marking pen. Even after it disappears the chemical is still in the fabric.

Most of the time, I just use a #2 pencil and mark light enough that i can see the lines. After hand quilting the quilt, most of the pencil has rubbed off. I do like this Frixion pen for darker fabrics that i can't see pencil lines.

I like a good old fashioned graphite pencil... lightly marked...

That sounds great. Thanks for the info on your test. I feel much better. A quilt teacher of mine who has always been extremely careful about marking her quilts swears by these pens.

That is great! Thanks so much.

Love these pens, don't freeze my quilts and I live in Sunny California so don't have to worry about freezing temps. :thumbup:

If a quilt of mine survives for many generations I won't be around to know if the ink came back or not so why the worry. Now days if an old quilt surfaces with pencil markings left on it it is considered a real treasure! From what I could find online the chemicals used for the gel ink are not harmful to natural fibers.

I am using my Frixion black pen to draw around my tiny twister squares today. I gave up on cutting them out with the rotary cutter (before I lose a finger) and I am using my scissors on the Frixion marks. Working great!

I love my pen. I don't put my quilts in the freezer, so I am O K.

I don't think the concern here is about whether you freeze your quilts or not. Not many people I know of do that...

What I think is the concern is the reaction of the chemical ink to both heat and cold. If it can be completely washed out, there should be no concern. But, if that chemical residue remains in the fabric, it could cause problems in the quilt down the road.

Your great-great grandchild may cherish that quilt you made beyond your imagining and it would be a shame for some old chemical residue left in it to be eating away at the fibers and utimately destroying it.

Are you not worried about the fact the chemical is still in the quilt even after it disappears? I would be worried that something in the environment could effect it and turn the area where marked into some other gross color.

Many people don't read the posts (other than the OP) so they are not even seeing our references to the chemicals staying in the fabric. It's one of my pet peeves about message boards. I am easily annoyed, I guess.

But doesn't the ink wash out?

Same here and I love them!!!

These were being sold at the 2011 NW Quilters Expo....there ARE some things to consider. One thought --we live in an area where the temps drop to 20 below at night --- would not be far-fetched to believe the quilt I'm sending out just might be left in the PO overnight --- therefore -- my quilts MAY be in a "freezer"

More than one sales booth had these pens and all of them said the same thing:

1) the ink does NOT go into the fabric --- it "floats" on top. So no worry there.

2) if you don't wash the quilt after it's finished (like my customer quilts aren't washed by me) then use a steamer and steam the ink off. They ALL assured me the ink would not show up later on. They were ALL emphatic that just ironing will not guarantee the ink disappears forever.

Note: I haven't tried it yet ----- don't blame me if anything goes wrong, I'm just the messenger

Thank you for confirming a question I had at a show here in Denver this summer - the pen was all the rage and the vendor
wouldn't (said they didn't know - HA!) give me a straight answer about what happens when it was in the freezer. The pens weren't in any specific factory packaging. Now my concern has been addressed. Thank you for taking the time to give us the long version of your experiment.

Thanks for the warning.

I agree - the ink doesn't go INTO the fabric but sort of floats on top. But I will either wash or steam quilts that I use the pen on. Even so - I do wonder if there is a time in which it will no longer wash off. I guess time will tell. All I can say is that I am doing applique that is not symmetrical and it is complicated. I don't know how anyone could do this without a pen like this.

I just use a light box or the window... a solution that has worked for a century.

If one is concerned about the ink in the frixion pen, wouldn't the concern of the ink in the fabric would be the same for any of the marker type pens?

Oh yes, one of the girls was using these at our July quiltfest and someone told us this same info. Very weird!!!

Great point.!!!

very interesting!!

thanks for the information

Thanks for posting!

OK....a few words here....how many of our quilts go into the freezer or stay outside in 0 degree weather?

I know the ink is there, but no one has had the pens long enough to know the long term effect of that fact. So, really, don't rush to judgement. It's probably going to be longer than any of us are alive before the ink will "rot" the fabric, and perhaps never.

Yes!! The air disappearing ink is still in there, the water disappearing ink is still in there. I don't think any of the various marking inks totally washes out immediately.

Nope, that's not true any longer. All airplanes are completely pressurized and temperature controlled.

OK...how many of you trust F&Ps information?? Hands?? Me!! I trust them to not suggest using products that will harm my quilts.

Yes, I agree with this!!

Janice - thanks for letting us know about the fons and porter endorsement. I think I will let this go now and feel good about using my pens. I love them and they have made my life so much easier. I have quilt teachers who would never use anything to mark fabrics until now with these pens. They totally believe in them too. Thanks again
Roxanne

How often will a quilt be exposed to 14ºF?

I wonder if it would make a difference if the fabric is pre-washed or not as far as the ink washing out after pressing...

Yes. I only use blue masking tape or clover chaco liner (white only) to mark so far. I only do straight line quilting though so it's not a big issue for me. I do have a chalk pounce kit for when I decided to brave a design.