Printwear Troubleshooting Q&A November 2011

Q. I ordered tearaway/washaway from a company. After using it, I discovered that I could NOT wash it away from the appliqué without it leaving a fringe around the edge of a scalloped design. I tried to rinse it in warm water, then again in cold water, but the result was the same, a fringe around the edge.

I contacted the company and they offered to exchange this product for Solvy. What is the criterion for a stabilizer to be a washaway?

A. What you originally wanted was a fibrous washaway aka Vilene. Distributors call it by a few different names. 

What you probably received was a washaway/tearaway used for paper piecing and very open designs. This type of washaway takes a full wash or two for all the remnants to dissipate.

Solvy is a film stabilizer. For a few reasons, a fibrous washaway is far superior. A fibrous washaway has fibers that hold stitches far better than films as the threads and fabric become easily entangled. A film stabilizer can needle perforate and in a high stitch count design, it will fall away before you want it to. 

Fred Lebow, Cotswold Industries