I have had quite a few emails asking me about the safety of the blue washout pen, so I thought I would show how I use them. I have been appliqueing using these pens for over 10 years and have never had any trouble, however there are a couple of things you do need to think about. One of the most important is to avoid heat...I used to live in Brisbane (a pretty hot climate) and if a block was left in a hot car for a few hours, the pen could have been 'set' by the heat. Once you have marked a block with blue pen, never iron it until you have washed the pen out.
Firstly I generally only draw out 1 or 2 blocks at a time. Leaving the blue pen in for a long time is not a good idea, having said that a few months is usually ok. I trace the pattern onto my block using a lightbox, if you don't have one of those, sticking the pattern onto a window or putting a lamp underneath a glass table top work just as well.
Once the applique on the block is finished, I then totally submerge it in cold water (water only, do not use any soap or detergent at this stage). Give it a gentle swish around, I usually do this for about 1-2 minutes. This removes all traces of blue pen.
Give it a gentle wring out by hand...
Hang it up to dry...
Once dry, I then iron it with the steam setting on. At this point I have never had any lines coming back, or even any yellow lines showing up.
This is the method I use to wash out the blue pen...does anyone else use the blue pen? How do you wash it out?
No comments:
Post a Comment