I too blogged about these pens after having a heart-wrenching experience on a show quilt. Thinking to wash out the Frixion ink after extensive domestic machine quilting, I washed the quilt in cold water with regular laundry detergent. The cold water caused all the marks to return. I was in tears. Heat ironing again made the marks disappear, but knowing the ink is still there makes me feel sad about all the hours put into my quilt. Thinking all the marks were heated away, I sent the quilt to MQX in New Hampshire. Later, judges comments included telling me to be sure to remove all quilt markings. I’ll never know if I missed heating those out, or cold temps caused them to return. No Frixion pen will ever touch my quilts again, and I share this caution with students in my beginner quiltmaking and domestic machine quilting classes. Thanks for your thorough confirmation of my own opinion about using Frixion on fabric! Thanks for the investigation. I’m glad for the clarification. I wonder if laundering the quilt will remove the thermo ink. I don’t do show quilts, just quilts for myself and family and I wash them all when they are completed. Will spot treating help get it out? Just a thought.

I am a chemist and you did a great job. I wish everybody read your paper and do not use this pens on fabric. Their is so much written about this pens and you cannot wash the ink out the fabric. This is some much needed information about these pens. When I first heard about them, it was from those who embroidered and really loved them. (Different application there but one that makes more sense to me.) I’ve always been hesitant to use these pens on quilts because there are a few really good products out there that are made specifically for use on fabric (with good results), and the Frixion pens just weren’t worth the risk. For me, I will not use these pens very often because I frequently do competition pieces. I cannot risk having any problems with the marking method I use. I think they are great pens for other marking needs but we need to be aware of their limitations. And remember that the Pilot pen company did not design these pens for fabric.

Oh no Liz, not on Pat Pauly’s gorgeous hand dye! It probably did not take the dye out, the manufacturer says that it’s actually the “disappearing ink” that left a trace of itself upon the fabric. No matter what though, bummer to have that happen. If you’re not familiar with Frixion pens, they are a line of pens and highlighters made by Pilot that are heat erasable. Frixion pens make a crisp, clear mark which goes on smoothly and easily with no skipping. After quilting, you simply steam the ink lines away and poof, they are gone! This seems like the Holy Grail of marking methods for us quilters. It is important to note that Pilot did not design the pens for fabric and did not test them on fabric while developing the concept. I was excited to buy these pens but when writing 3or 4 times the ink Runs out , I brought the filler and it ran out,is this y’all Strategy to get people to buy more? If it is that just wrong! People will Cheat to make money. We also saw that some ink pens or markers, over time, could actually cause the fabric fibers to weaken and break down. Remember the reports of the mordants used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s to set natural dyes for longer-lasting colors or to create the “rustle” in silks. Over time those very silk fabrics are now disintegrating, crumbling away from the clothing or crazy quilts? For an in-depth look at chemical dyes and mordants, the history of fabric dyeing and printing is covered thoroughly by researchers. Here are links to two noteworthy articles:

I just have to chime in here and THANK YOU AGAIN.. without all the time, research and information you have provided on these pens and the comments from your readers.. it is without a doubt that an embroidery panel I had at least 9 to 11 hours into —- would have been ruined! I bought a set of these pens at a QUILT SHOW! Good demo was evasive about use on fabric but said go ahead. I should have known better when several lost their ink and the co. advise freezing them for 30 minutes. I guess that happens to them on fabric in the cold. I hope I didn’t use them on gifts. As the popularity of the Pilot Frixion range continues to grow with each passing month while showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, we have constantly seen more and more questions being asked. Due to the unique properties of the Frixion range, we have noticed more and more people reaching out just to ask how do Frixion pens work? Save yourself money and be kind to the environment by refilling your FriXion Ball pen instead of buying a new one - it's never been easier to be green! Thanks for the good info. I use friction pens all the time and have had very few problems. I don’t use them on dark fabric because that’s where the ghost marks usually show up. I can usually get the ghost marks out with several applications of water.I do not know whether anyone else mentioned this, but we also have “other chemicals” that could be interacting with the inks – these would be waxes and any treatment used on batiks to easily lift the wax after the dye is applied, the chemicals in the dyes, the chemistry of our water in the area where we live – perhaps this water element is THE key contributing factor that affects the ability of some quilters to remove the ink when laundering and others who saw no difference after laundering. I had been using them to mark my fabric for needle turn appliqué and had noticed the ghost marks. I haven’t been using them since, but wondered if others were experiencing this problem. This is such a good thing to know and tell my customers. The real problem with the fixion is that fabric and quilt shops are marketing it as disappearing marking pen. I bought several. Now disappointed to know really true for fabric.