Mom and Christy have moved – more on that later. Instead of writing a long post on the move right now, I thought I'd sharethis email from Charlotte Warr Anderson. Here she is:
"I thought I'd give you all a heads up about Frixion Erasable pens. A student showed me hers at Road to California in January. She drew a line, thin but quite black, and then ironed it and the line totally disappeared. It looked like the coolest thing ever!
So I went in search of these pens, which you can get a Staples. I bought the pack that has three colors in it – black, red and blue. Being quite the skeptic about things that are too good to be true, I read the back of the package. In small print it says: "Do not expose to extreme temperatures (<14degrees F;> 140 degrees F). If pen is exposed to temperature that reaches 140 degrees F the ink will be colorless when writing. To restore color, cool to at least 14 degrees F and the ink will again write in color."
Aha! I said to myself. If you iron the ink it's going to be way over 140 degrees so it's going to disappear. So I took some fabric and scribbled on it with all three colors. Then I ironed it and, sure enough, all the scribbles disappeared. But then I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and all the lines reappeared. I left it for about a week and a half while I went travelling and today I tried to wash the ink out. It didn't come out with soap and hard scrubbing and not even after I put rubbing alchohol on it. So then I ironed the piece dry and all the lines disappeared and then it went back to the freezer and all the lines reappeared (perhaps just a bit fainter).
This experiment was enough to persuade me that these pens are too good to be true and even sort of creepy – the ink is always there even if you can't see it. I wouldn't use them on any fabric or quilt you really cared about.
If I had a blog I would have put this on there but since I don't any of you who want to pass on what I've written can feel free to copy and paste this post
Charlotte"
So, there you go. Charlotte did some great research for all of us and so we don't have to. Thank you, Charlotte!
Piece O Cake Blog 
I had heard about the ink reappearing under cold temps from one source – good to have another source to quote – thanks.
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I love these pens. but for paper which is their intended use. so fun! They do fade a bit though over time.
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Thanks for posting this information Becky. Very interesting stuff.
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These are some of the craziest pens I have ever read about. My wife is huge into arts and crafts. will have to tell her about these.
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Becky, thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve wanted to test them out but haven’t made the time … posted Charlotte’s review on my blog and included links to yours as well 🙂
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How many people store their quilts in the freezer? We tested them and found that they disappear with heat and then wash completely out and will not come back after laundering. Even the pieces that were exposed to cold washed out and did not return, but we didn’t leave the samples in the freezer for a week and a half. Who does that? Are there people out there making quilts for frozen turkeys?
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I’ll stick to my arsenal of Crayola Washable Markers. I’ve never been stuck with a mark that won’t wash out, and they come in a variety of colors. I stock up every year at the Back to School sales.
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On a chat group, an appliquer chemist put out a lengthy description as to why this ink is not good for fabric. I gave my frixion pens to my grandkids.
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I was wondering about those pens. I was doubtful about them. Thanks for the info. 🙂
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Thanks for posting. Students in my applique class keep bringing these in to share with everyone. I didn’t have any information to support my reluctance to use them. As with any marker and with applique methods, my standard line in class is “you have to make the decision about what works for you but educate yourself with as much information as possible”.
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Yes, I did the freezer time and the mark reappeared. I washed with plain water, pressed, froze, and no return marks.
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I tend to be a purist about marking tools so I dont use any marker that goes on wet. I just dont trust them. Some of them may be absolutely safe and wonderful but I think time will tell and I may not live long enough to know for sure.
So far I havent run across a situation in which either my white or gray mechanical pencils wont work. I suppose if I ever do, I might have to resort to something else. Until then, Im happy to share the information I have on these markers even if I know that Im not going to use them. Isnt it nice that we can pick and choose among a variety of options to find the thing that works for us!
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These markers sound pretty good for kids. I’m always trying every new pen, marker, pencil, chalk and whatever to mark fabric. My favorite is a 7mm mechanical pencil. I’m looking for a white or silver one now.
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