Melt-aways

Heat Away - Stabilizer

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Heat-away stabilizers are special heat dissolving stabilizers that either melt away or disintegrate and brush off when you apply heat with an iron. They can be used as either a topping between the fabric and embroidery design, or as a light weight backing.

Choose a heat-away stabilizer when the fabric is too delicate for a tear-away, too sheer for a cut-away, isn't washable, or when you're working with a special technique like making lace at an edge.

Heat-away stabilizers are perfect for:

Decorative Stitching

Monogramming

Battenburg Lace

Cut work and Edges

Lace Work

Buttonholes

Machine Embroidery
3-D Appliqué
Special Effects
Delicate Fabrics
Corduroy and Velvet

Different Types of Heat-Away Stabilizers.

There are two main types of heat dissolvable stabilizers. They are both very similar, and can be used in the same projects, but have a couple of different features.

Heat-Away Brush Off Stabilizer
Heat-away is a special heat-sensitive woven fabric that is like muslin that disintegrates with heat from a hot DRY iron then brushes away easily. It may be used on either side of your fabric. It turns brown with the heat from your iron. It brushes away very easily. Sulky heat-away is easy to see through so you can trace designs on to it for easy stitching. Perfect for any project where wetting or tearing would cause distortion to stitches or damage to your base material. Because it is woven and firm, it is easy to stitch on when creating machine arts. The stabilizer is not compatible with liquids.

Melt-Away or Embroidery Trick Film
Melt-away is also known as embroidery trick film. It is a plastic, perforated stabilizer that grips the fabric, and can be either torn or melted away. Melt-away has a rough surface that grips the material, preventing slippage when sewing on it.

It is great when used as a topping when embroidering on fabrics with pile, as only the excess is melted away with the iron. This means the hidden melt-away will remain permanently between the embroidery threads and your fabric. This stops the stitching from sinking into the embroidered item even after many washes.

Melt-away is a transparent film that does not show through the fabric. It's easy to use, it doesn't pucker, doesn't shrink and won't change the colour of your fabrics. It is only 0.07 thick, which allows the fabric to fall naturally without a heavy appearance when used as a stabilizer. When using meltaway as a backing you don't always need to iron the residue, simply tearaway as you would with a tearaway backing and leave in place.

Melt-away can be easily removed or melted away with an ordinary non-teflon household iron - 120^o C/230^o F. Unlike heat-away, you MUST use brown paper between the iron surface and the melt-away plastic. The brown paper can be re-used as the melt-away will peel off the paper.

Heat-Away Stabilizers vs Water Dissolvable Stabilizers.

Heat dissolvable stabilizers are used where wetting or tearing would cause distortion to stitches or damage to the base material. They will disintegrate with a hot iron making it ideal for delicate embroidery and with tulle for machine embroidered lace. They can be used on top of fabrics, which should not be wetted, like corduroy or velvet to stop the embroidery design stitches from sinking into the pile and getting lost. When using heat-away stabilizers, parts of the stabilizer may be left on your project, as only the stabilizer with the direct heat applied to it will disappear. Wash-away stabilizers will completely disappear from your project when wet so are better for freestanding lace projects.

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