Tips for Fixing Hoop Burn

 

We all have experienced the dreaded hoop burn. Here are three of the best methods I have found to fix hoop burn and save your project.

It never fails that you have completed stitching the perfect project (probably a gift) only to take it out of the hoop and find hoop burn. Items that have a nap, like sweaters, fleece, or sweatshirt material, compress when hooped and are susceptible. Release the hoop and you often find a flattened mark right where the hoop flattened the fibers.

I intentionally made a hoop burn on this sweater and will show you four ways to fix it.

Lint Brush

For dark fabrics, it was recommended to just use a lint brush, the sticky kind. Crazy right? Who knew? But I had to try it and it worked! Keep rolling it over the fabric, it pulls the fibers back to the top, and the hoop burn will disappear. That works really well and it doesn’t involve washing or wetting the item. A great fix for a gift!

 

Spray Starch

Method number two is to take some spray starch and to add some moisture back in to the fibers. I spray the fabric surface, gently rub it in with my fingertips, and let it dry. The hoop burn will go away.

 

Water Spritz

The third method I like really well is just plain old water. Just spritz the area with some water, gently rub it in, and let it dry. Once dry, the hoop burn is gone. Easy peasy!

Laundering

Of course, the fourth method is to just throw it in the laundry and let the washing machine get rid of it. Often, especially during the holidays, we don't want to wash something right before gifting it. We want it to look really nice and fresh.

In cases where you don’t want to wash the item, try spritzing it with plain water or use the lint brush. You have to roll it a bit more but you don't have to wait for it to dry like you do the other three methods.

Why Not Float the Item?

There are some fabrics I would definitely float or baste to the stabilizer and not hoop at all, such as towels and velvet. Towels are too thick and have a tendency to pop out of hoops at the worst possible moment and velvet's napped fibers would be crushed. As a digitizer, I know how the commercial folks do it. They hoop everything they possibly can because that's what works best, and I get the best results by hooping everything as well.

But if you're getting great results with just floating, by all means float. Personally, I like to hoop things. My registration typically is better with hooping, so that's why I do it that way.

So, use whichever method you like the best and whatever works best for you. I'm a firm believer that there is more than one method that works. We all have our different preferences, so I like to give you options.

Check out the video here.

Have a day blessed with perfect stitches…and GlitterFlex!!