FriXion pen vs water-soluble pen for embroidery: which is safer?

Side by side

Where this comes from: we haven't run a lab test of one pen brand against another. The table is built from the sources below. Pens change, so test yours on a scrap of your own fabric.

What we use (and why there's usually no pen at all)

A Stitch Your Dog pattern is printed on a stick and stitch sheet, so the portrait itself needs no pen. You stitch right through the sheet, then rinse it away.

The only marks you might add are small extras: a name, a date, or a guide line for a border. For those, either write lightly with a water-soluble fabric pen or print the letters on a scrap of stick and stitch sheet and stitch through it. The rinse at the end takes care of both. Here's how stick and stitch works.

Why FriXion pens are risky on embroidery

FriXion pens are gel pens made for paper. Their ink turns invisible with heat, which is why the lines vanish under an iron. But the ink is still in the fabric. In cold conditions, the lines can come back, and the ink can leave a faint ghost line that never quite goes.

For something you'll give or keep for years, that's a gamble. Needle 'n Thread advises against them for heirloom work. If you do use one, keep it to test pieces and things you don't mind marking.

How to use a water-soluble pen safely

1. Test it first. Draw a line on a scrap of your fabric, stitch over part of it, rinse it the way you'll rinse the real piece, and let it dry. If any line is left, try another pen.
2. Mark lightly. A thin, pale line is easier to rinse out than a heavy one, and you only need to see it.
3. Keep heat away. No iron, no hair dryer and no hot water until every mark is gone. Heat can set the ink for good.
4. Rinse it all out. Follow the pen's own instructions, which usually mean cool water. Rinse until the marks are gone, then rinse once more under the tap.
5. Then press. Once it's dry and the marks are gone, press it face-down on a folded towel.

Skip air-erasable pens (usually purple) for anything slow. Their lines fade on their own, often long before you've stitched over them.

Questions people ask

Keep going

• How-to guideHow to use stick and stitch, step by stepPrint, stick, hoop, stitch through and rinse: a pet portrait from sheet to finished hoop, plus how the other transfer methods compare.
• ComparisonWhat's the best stick and stitch paper? How to choose a sheetNo brand ranking: what to check on a pack of stick and stitch paper, how to print on it, and how to rinse it out cleanly.
• ComparisonStick and stitch vs water-soluble stabilizer: what's the difference?Stick and stitch is a printable, self-adhesive water-soluble stabilizer. How it compares to the plain kind, and which is easier for a beginner.
• How-to guideHow to remove stick and stitch (no residue)Trim, soak, rinse and dry: the calm, exact way to wash stick and stitch out of finished embroidery, and what to do if it stays sticky.
• ComparisonLinen vs cotton: what's the best fabric for hand embroidery?Oatmeal linen for a black-thread pet portrait, quilting cotton as an easy alternative, and the fabrics to skip for a first piece.
• GlossaryEmbroidery glossary: every term a beginner hears, in plain EnglishAn embroidery glossary in plain English: floss, strands, skeins, hoops, stabilizer, stick and stitch, loop starts, waste knots and the stitches, A to Z.