Madeira Webinar Q&A: Choosing the Right Backing 5/6/2015

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1 1 Q: How thick is the appliqué magic? Does it increase the stiffness of an appliqué? A: E-Zee Appliqué Magic is 1.2 oz. It does add slight stiffness to the appliqué. Q: Can you use 1.5 oz. Cut Away as a Tear Away for appliqué? A: Yes, you can. If you are looking to add stiffness to the appliqué, this will work fine. Q: Are two sheets of 3.0 oz. Cut Away too much for a golf shirt? A: Yes, generally, two sheets of a 3.0 oz. Cut Away are too much for any design! You may want to re-evaluate the digitizing of the design itself, and consider some changes at that level, in order to get a better look, with a lighter weight backing. Q: Is it necessary for an embroiderer to have all types of backing, or are there are some that can be used for a variety of projects as a person builds their supplies? A: No, it is not. Customizing your backing purchases to your needs is the way to approach it. Having a medium Cut Away (2.5 oz.), a medium Tear Away (1.5 oz.), the Cap that works best for you, and an all around favorite, Weblon No-Show, will cover most embroiderers needs. Q: How much consideration is placed on durability after washing when choosing a backing? In other words, should an embroiderer mainly be concerned about the backing as part of the sewing process, rather than after market durability? How do you balance those issues? A: Repeat Business and Word of Mouth are as vital within this industry as they are in others. How a product performs after it leaves your shop is just as important as how it looks after it is embroidered. Cut Away backings have a tendency to hold up better over several washes, and even over the

2 2 life span of the garment itself. Tear Away backings can wash away over time. Q: When talking light, medium and heavy weight stabilizers, what different weights would fall under those headings? A: Tear Away backings range from 1.0 oz. to 1.8 oz., with a 1.5 oz. in the middle. That results in 1.0 oz. for light, 1.5 oz. for medium and 1.8 oz. the heaviest for your basic Tear Away backings. Remember that Cap backings are the heaviest Tear Away backings, with a range of 2.5 to 3.0 oz. The weight range for Cut Away backings is: 1.5 oz. for light, 2.0 oz. for medium and 3.0 oz. for heavy weight. Q: Would you ever use more than one layer of backing? A: Generally, one piece of backing is best, as it keeps the amount of layers you are hooping to a minimum. Using two pieces of 1.5 oz. Cut Away in place of a single piece of 3.0 oz. is ok in a pinch, however, not the best solution. There are times when using two pieces is called for, such as with performance wear, where a 1.5 oz. low profile Weblon is often paired with a 1.0 oz. Tear Away to create additional stability during the embroidery process. Q: What do you use E-Zee poly mesh, 1.5 oz. for? A: Polymesh, a woven backing similar to sheer curtains, is used in the same manner as a Weblon No-Show product. It is a low profile backing with a little less stability, as it does stretch slightly on the bias. Q: It seems like often times Cut Away backings shrink when pressed with steam. Is there a rule for only using these Cut Aways on synthetics that are not generally ironed with steam? A: A high quality basic Cut Away backing should not shrink when ironed. There are some types of specialty Cut Away backings that have a high amount of polyester in them that will shrink under high heat conditions. Q: Perforated Tear Away doesn't wash away... does it???

3 3 A: E-Zee Waffle, or Pop Away as others call it, does not wash away. Q: I am stitching on very heavy canvas ,000 to 800,000 stitches -- over an area up to 21 x 23. I'm using an iron on backing. What should I be using? A: Stick with the iron-on if it is working! As an alternative, a medium weight Tear Away (1.5 oz.), would work well, too. Q: Is it cheaper to buy your cap backing in a large roll? A: Generally, it is less expensive. Purchasing a roll allows you to cut the lengths needed for each specific job. Q: Would you ever double up on the backing on caps? A: While it is not usually necessary to do so, if you do not have any 2.5 or 3.0 oz. cap backings on hand, you can double up with a 1.5 oz. Tear Away backing in a pinch. Q: How about the backing for soft, low profile caps? A: Soft low profile baseball caps will require stability, as they are also embroidered on a round cap frame. For this reason, 2.5 or 3.0 oz. cap backing is needed to assist in stabilizing it in the frame while it is being embroidered. Same rule of thumb for digitizing, cap designs should stitch from the center out, and from the bottom up. Q: Is backing always necessary for a structured hat? A: Yes, while it may not be necessary to support the design after it s been embroidered, backing is necessary to assist in stabilizing the round cap in the round cap frame. Q: When would I use 3 oz. cap backing instead of 2.5 oz.?

4 4 A: It would depend on the cap itself and the size and density (concentration) of stitches. Q: I always get needle breaks on hats. I use a #90 needle. Any other tips? What needle is best for Caps? A: Cap embroidery does have its challenges. A #90/14 needle is not necessary for cap embroidery. It may make puncture holes large enough to compromise the quality of the design. Making sure your design is digitized properly for embroidering on a cap is vital. Stitching should embroider from the center out and from the bottom up. Hooping is just as important as you need to get that cap as flat as possible on the cap frame. Using cap backing will assist with this. If you still find you are having needle breaks, try switching to either a #80/12, standard eye, sharp needle (item # S), or a Titanium style needle, 75/11, sharp (item # S) also available in a #80/12, sharp (item# S). Q: What is "flagging?" A: Flagging is what occurs if the fabric being embroidered on is pushed to the point of folding over during the embroidery process. This can easily happen when embroidering caps, without proper digitizing and hooping. Q: What about the Carhart coats/jackets? A: Because the fabric on these types of coats and jackets is quite stable, a medium Tear Away backing is adequate. If you are not disassembling the jacket, black backings are available to use with dark linings. Q: Are baby onesie's considered tee shirt material? A: Yes, these are made of tee shirt material, or light weight knit. They will have stretch, requiring a lightweight Cut Away backing. A low profile backing such as Weblon No-Show would work well.

5 5 Q: What would you use for a soft, thin piqué golf shirt? The logo is 7,500 stitches. A: Weblon No-Show backing would work well for this type of material. A single layer is adequate for the 7,500 stitches. Additional underlay, or the use of a water soluble topping, will also assist in keeping any smaller parts of the design from sinking into the piqué material. Q: I need to embroider a 20,000 stitch logo on 70% rayon/30% polyester shirts. What backing would you recommend? A: 20,000 stitches can be a lot of stitches to put on a lightweight shirt, depending on the density (or concentration) of the stitches. Assuming this is a woven fabric, the use of a medium to heavy weight Cut Away backing may be needed to support the design. Q: Do you have backing and digitizing suggestions for embroidering logos onto Lycra and Spandex swim suits? A: These types of fabrics benefit from the use of an adhesive type of backing, as they should be stretched while hooping. Once the garment is removed from the hoop, the design will look puckered until it is stretched when worn. A Stick-on Tear Away will work nicely; for more delicate designs, a Cut Away Washaway, with the pressure sensitive adhesive, would work well. For a bathing suit with a lot of stretch, I'd be careful not to do a large logo. Keep it small, like 1" square, or a small line of text. The bathing suit is going to stretch, while the embroidery will not. Underlay should be basic and simple, zig zag underlay at most, for satin stitch. I would keep the top stitch a little open to allow for more stretch. I personally have never done bathing suits, but I am tempted to suggest hooping it a little stretched out and let it snap back. It will appear wrong when not worn, but right when worn! Q: Any suggestions for backings to use with nylon duffle bags?

6 6 A: Nylon is a woven fabric that is lightweight and slippery. Because of thi, a lightweight or medium weight Cut Away backing is recommended. Q: Would you use a Stick-on backing for a 100% Spandex fabric? A: A Stick-on backing would help to stabilize Spandex during the embroidery process. Q: What do you use for poly wind shirts? A: Polyester wind shirts are made of a woven fabric treated to be water and weather resistant. When embroidering on these, a medium Tear Away or a light weight Cut Away will work for most designs. For heavier, more dense (or concentrated) designs, you would want to go heavier on the backing. Because it is water resistant, you are perforating the material during the embroidery process. Using a single-sided heat seal (item # ) on the back side of the shirt once the embroidery is done will seal up the embroidered part of the garment. Q: Is there a way to not have the backing show at all after embroidering, like on a Ralph Lauren polo shirt? A: Yes, backing finishers like E-Zee Comfort Just Right or E-Zee Weblon Fusibles, have heat-activated adhesives on their back side. These are applied to the back side of a finished embroidery to provide a finished appearance, like you see on high end apparel, and also to provide a smooth feeling for sensitive skin. This second reason is particularly important with the use of metallic embroidery threads. Q: Will a backing finisher wear off with time? A: Applied correctly, it should last the lifetime of the garment. Using too high a heat to dry a finished garment can release the backing finisher. Q: What kind of backing should you use with metallic threads?

7 7 A: Friction, or, the build up of heat, is what causes metallic threads to break. With metallic threads it s all about reducing friction while embroidering. This is achieved by using a larger needle, appropriate for the type of metallic thread, slowing the machine down and most times, increasing the tension. Using a soft Cut Away backing will also reduce this friction and stress on the metallic thread. Q: Any kind of written details about the needles just mentioned? A: Yes, a chart that includes both density settings and needle recommendation is available to download on in the bottom navigation, under the Resource Library section. To download this chart now, click here! Q: Is using a coated needle more important than using a sharp needle if you are using sticky backing or adhesive on knits? How are these needles identified? A: You would choose your needle point based on the type of fabric being embroidered on. Ballpoint needles push the fabric aside without cutting the fabric. Ballpoint needles are recommended for knit fabrics and light weight woven fabrics. Sharp needles are needed for heavy woven fabrics like heavy denim, twill or canvas, and also for caps. Q: What type of needle is recommended for velvet and satin: ballpoint or sharp? A: Since velvet and satin are light weight woven fabrics, a ballpoint needle would work best. Q: What type of needle would you use for fleece jackets? A: Fleece material is a knit fabric, and usually not a dense fabric. A ballpoint needle would work well in this application. Q: Obviously the thin, stretchy sport wicking material is challenging. What do you suggest for different stitch densities?

8 8 A: The answer to most questions, when it comes to the moisture wicking, performance wear fabrics, is to lighten it up. This being said, lighten up on your top fill density. Adding more underlay can help to compensate for less density on your satin and fill stitches. Q: I would like to learn more about performance fabrics/wicking type shirts. What is the best backing to use? A: The best choice of backing for these types of fabrics is the Weblon No- Show backings. These are generally a 1.5 oz., low profile backings that have great stability. Use a single sheet on designs with 7,000 to 8,000 stitches. For larger or more dense designs, you can double up to add more stability, due to the low profile of this type of backing. Always keep in mind the limitations of your fabric. With this thin, slippery polyester fabric, always keep it light. Backing, design, tension, needle, and even a lighter weight thread, are all helpful in producing a fantastic looking design. Q: I have been told to add a piece of Tear Away with the Weblon to keep the fabric from puckering. Is that correct? A: Yes, adding a piece of light weight (1.0 oz.) Tear Away can assist in stabilizing, if needed. Q: Will spray adhesive be helpful with performance wear? Will it assist in keeping the fabric from moving? A: It can help, but is not necessary unless the fabric is so stretchy that you need to keep it from stretching while hooping. Q: Which type of thread is used on performance wear items for best results, Polyneon or Rayon? A: Rayon is a better choice for these types of fabrics. It is softer than polyester and will lay better into your designs and cause less puckering. Q: Do you have a black backing for performance wear fabrics? A: Yes, Weblon No-Show backings are available in white, black and beige.

9 9 Q: Would a combination of one sheet of Weblon and one sheet of 3.0 Cut Away be a good choice for embroidering on performance wear? A: No, 3.0 oz. Cut Away is too heavy to use with this thin, slippery fabric. Q: What backing do you recommend for performance wear caps framed on a cap frame? A: The material for these beanie type caps is thin as well. Stick with a Weblon No-Show Cut Away backing. Q: With performance wear, what about washing it? We have many customers that wash their shirts constantly. A: Normal wear and tear is expected for these types of garments. You would want to instruct your end user/customers to follow the washing instructions for both the garment and for the type of embroidery thread used. Q: What type of needle is the right choice to use on performance wear? A: A #75/11 is the standard size for a 40 weight thread. Going down to a smaller needle, like a #65/9 needle, which is also acceptable for 40 weight thread, may increase the quality of the stitch out. Q: In the beginning of the webinar, it was said that a light embroidery with low fill on a golf shirt would likely use 1.5 oz. Cut Away. What would you define as light embroidery? Is this in regards to the total stitch count? A: For your light weight golf and performance wear shirts, a light weight design is about 7,000 to 8,000 stitches and it is recommended to keep within this range for best results. Now, this is subjective based on the design itself. The density (or concentration) of the stitches comes into play. An open, airy design may have many more stitches and cover a larger area, but be considered a light design.

10 10 Q: Sometimes when I use Weblon No-Show backing on performance polo shirts I experience pulling and my design looks wavy. What do you suggest I do? A: First, be sure that the design is not too large for this type of fabric. Any more than 10,000 stitches could be too much. If the stitch count is not too high, it is most likely the digitizing itself caused the issues. Try lightening up the density on the top fill and satin stitches. You can compensate by adding more underlay to achieve the desired effect. This should lessen the amount of puckering. Q: Do you have a suggestion for the best scissors to get a close, clean cut for Cut Away backing? A: This is a personal preference, for sure. I prefer a small shear like the Fiskar trimmer (Madeira s item # ) to trim Cut Away backing. When trimming the backing, hold the backing up, so that the fabric on the garment itself is visible. Slowly (key word here!) trim away the backing, small snips at a time, as close as you feel comfortable without nicking the garment. Q: What backing should I use for dog collars, horse halters & lead lines? A: A Tear Away backing works best so that you can tear away any excess backing. A Stick-On Tear Away 2.0 oz. backing will work well with these. You will need to hoop this backing, paper side up, in a large hoop. Use a pin or something sharp to lightly score the paper. A large X works well so that you can start to peel the paper away, exposing the sticky top side of the backing itself. You now have a large area on which to stick dog collars, halters, lead lines, or any other item that cannot be easily hooped. Q: What about horse blankets and saddle pads? A: These are very thick products to embroider. If too thick to hoop with your regular hoops, a clamping or magnetic hoop may be needed. Since

11 11 they do not need backing so much for stability, a Tear Away backing would work well. Q: A suggestion, please, of what needle to use on horse halters? A: A sharp point needle, with the largest eye recommended for the type of thread being used, will be your best choice. Q: I love the cardboard type Tear Away. We call it luxury backing. Is it not possible to use that for most garments? I am getting sick of cutting my garments by accident. A: It is a great time saver to use Tear Away backing, due to the luxury of simply being torn away. But many options were discussed in the webinar that should steer you away from always using a Tear Away backing for the wrong reason! Based on the fabric you are embroidering, it could be that you are fine and can continue to use it. But, be aware of the end use of the product so that the integrity of the design is maintained throughout the life of the garment. Q: Would you know how to use something like a water soluble topping? A: For high pile fabrics, like terry towels, corduroy, plush velvet, stitches can easily sink into the nap of the fabric, preventing the design from looking as clean and crisp as it was meant to be. Adding a layer of topping will hold down the pile in these fabrics while it is being embroidered. This helps to keep the stitches on the surface, creating a much cleaner look. Q: Why would you use topping on napped fabrics when they wash away? My customers would be livid if nap came through after a couple of washings. I have never heard a good reason for using water soluble topping. A: This is a very good question. A topping, unlike a backing, does not add stability. It simply holds down the nap, or pile, of these types of fabrics while they are being embroidered. Once the topping is completely

12 12 removed, and even after washing the garment, the nap or pile is then being held down by the stitches that occurred during the embroidery. Q: How do I remove the water soluble topping on polar fleece type items with detailed designs so lots of little pieces are not left? When I try to remove them, the nap starts to distort. A: Using the bubble gum technique described during the webinar will work well on polar fleece. Spray or steam the design and the excess ball of topping. Most important is to wait the 30 to 60 seconds before you start dabbing the left over ball of topping on the design where the small pieces of topping are trapped. The less you dab or play with it, the less you will be pulling or flattening the pile of the fleece. Q: Would you adjust the machine tension when you are using water soluble topping? A: Water soluble topping is very light weight. It should not affect the tensioning requirements. Q: Will using water soluble topping be enough for a faux fur fabric with a deeper nap, like a baby blanket, for example? A: For fabrics with a very deep pile or nap, you may want to consider your digitizing, as well. Adding more underlay helps your design not sink into high pile fabrics. Again, you will need to consider the fabric s limitations. Thin lettering will sink more than a wider letter. A combination of digitizing and a water soluble topping can work to your advantage here. Q: Has anyone ever done the side of a visor? How would you do it? A: I would put this in the category of dog leashes and horse halters. Using a Stick-On backing with a large hoop would work to embroider the side of a visor.

13 13 Q: When do you use Waffle Pop? A: For delicate fabrics and designs. It tears away softly and gently, causing little to no distortion to the fabric or design. Q: I have the Tear Washaway. I cannot get it to dissolve. What can I do? A: A Tear Washaway is generally a heavy weight washaway backing. It is used for terry towels, linens or any other garments where you may see the back side of the embroidery. After tearing the backing away, it must be laundered in order to remove it completely. Depending on your water condition, it may take several washes before it is completely washed away. A Tear Washaway is not intended for stand alone lace, heirloom or cutwork embroidery. Switch over to the Cut Washaway backings for these applications. Cut Washaway backing dissolves easily by rinsing in warm water. Q: Is the design still stable after the wash way backing gets washed off? A: This is a great point. You do want to keep in mind that if the backing washes away, it is no longer present to stabilize the design once it is gone. These should be used on fabrics that can support the design once it is washed away. Q: Won t the fill stitch cover the heat seal backing so that part won't adhere to the garment? A: When applying the heat seal to the back side of a water proof garment, it is applied after the embroidery is done. This way you have sealed this part of the garment. Q: Where do you buy the heat seal backing for the raingear? A: This single sided adhesive heat seal is available at Madeira, item # for a 10-yard roll. It is available in larger rolls, too. Q: What topping and backing would you use on a polyurethane rain jacket.

14 14 A: These jackets are a thin non-woven material and can be quite delicate. I would recommend the Weblon No-Show backing. No topping is needed for this product. Q: Is Weblon an adhesive type? A: Yes and No! There are both types. The non-adhesive No-Show Weblon backing is great for thin knit fabrics and light weight wovens. There is also a fusible type that is intended as a backing finisher to cover over the back side of a design. Q: Can you see backing through the fabric, especially on infants onesie s? A: It really depends on the lightness of the color of the onesie. You are bound to see more through the lighter colored ones. Using a Weblon No- Show backing and trimming it as close to the design as possible will reduce the visibility on these delicate garments. Adding the backing finisher will help to keep babies comfortable.