If you haven't been to a quilt show or in your LQS lately, you may have missed the latest-and-greatest product to hit the market since Rotary Cutters. Well, maybe not that big, but people are gasping in amazement and buying up these little notions by the thousands!
Me included! I was so taken with a demonstration, I bought 3 on the spot. In my dewy-eyed purchasing coma, I foggily heard the salesman saying something about "re-generating" your design if you "accidentally" erased it. That one little comment has come back to nag at me during sleepless nights. So I decided to conduct my own little Consumer Product Test.
The premise of the pens is that you can mark your fabric and erase it in it's totality with a hot iron.
Very pretty and available in several different colors for all of your fabric marking needs!
Then, with a quick swipe of your iron . . . now you see it . . .
And NOW you don't! Voila!
I was overwhelmed, overjoyed, overcome with this latest-and-greatest invention to make my quilting life more fabulous. Why, this little product alone would probably make me younger, skinnier, smarter and richer! Well, could happen!
But . . . something . . . the salesman had said about "re-generating" the markings kept niggling at my brain.
Oh, yeah, something about extreme temperatures are what activates the gel ink. So, I placed my little sample block in my deep freezer (had to shuffle some hamburger patties and fish sticks around, but got it in there) and left it to "activate" for 45 minutes.
And, activate it did! Case in point:
ALL of my scribblings . . . Yes, by golly, for the Love of Corn, each and every one of them were back in all of their full color glory like a zit on Prom Night!
So what? I hear you, gentle audience, objecting! You are not giving your beloved quilt to Eskimos or plan on packing them in ice for perpetuity! I get you . . . same thoughts I had!
So, I gave it the Woolite wash and air-dry test.
And here, you have it, the marks are gone again . . . But are they? Really? Or are they like a version of a bad slasher movie? Just when you get snuggled under your beautiful new quilt with a bowl of popcorn and settle in for a Saturday night flick, you glance down and . . .
Oh, it is just too terrible to contemplate!
Below, is the description of the Frixion Pens from Amazon
Technical Details
- Erase and rewrite repeatedly without damaging documents
- Thermo-sensitive Gel ink formula disappears with erasing friction
- Smooth writing Gel ink
- Not recommended for use on legal or official documents
- 3 pack of assorted colors
No where did I see anything about use on fabric, acid-free qualities, long-term effects, or excessive eyebrow growth on lab rats.
Soooooo, gentle reader, I caution you to use at your own risk! Personally, I will probably refrain from marking any of my heirloom (haha) quilts with one. But have fun, let your kids use them for Science Experiments or playing April Fool's jokes.
I think I will go back to good old tried-true-and-tested-by-Yo-Grandma chalk! After all, if it was good enough for Grandma, it should be good enough for me!
