Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Testing: Friction Pen and Clover White Marker

I have had a niggling in my thoughts lately about the Frixion Pen and the chemicals that are used to make it do what it does. I have read on multiple blogs about it leaving the fabric discolored. So I thought I needed to do some testing.
I have used the Clover White Marker pen for years to help with applique and marking where to place vines and stems. I got to wondering about the chemicals used in it also.

I will show what I did incase anyone is interested.

Frixion on prewashed fabric
Frixion after ironing
 

Frixion in freezer after ironing I don't know why anyone would put their quilts in the freezer, but it seems lots of people are afraid of it coming back in the cold. My conclusion was it didn't come back.



Frixion after washing

 All four of the fabrics still show my name after washing in detergent and drying. 


Clover White Marker
Clover White Marker after washing


 
Even though you can't see it well, the brown batik on bottom shows my name slightly. The red fabric on top doesn't seem to show any residue.
 
 
Conclusion:
 
I will be VERY careful if and when I use these pens again. I will use them I am quite sure especially for projects like the dinosaurs I made. You have to mark each piece and sew corners and all so it really comes in handy. I will just make sure I only mark where I am going to trim off.
There is no telling what the chemicals will do to the fabric over time. It may weaken it or discolor it further. I can see more testing in the future.
 
Diane

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for testing the pens and sharing the results.

Karen

Barbara Sindlinger said...

As with all markers, test each fabrics. I have had pretty good luck using the frixion markers on light fabrics. Hand dyed and batiks it kind of bleaches out the fabrics.

I think the freezer concern is if a quilt is shipped it usually is in the cargo hold of planes which gets very cold so when a quilt ends up at a show, the markings might be there.