Brace yourselves--I am about to impart upon you a piece of knowledge that will make your life as an embroidery professional sew much easier! Mostly everyone knows the importance of using a water soluble topping when stitching items with nap (such as the mint blankies, minky spa wraps, minky pillow cases and fleece blankets), but it's somewhat difficult to remove all of the topping without leaving gummy residue behind.
Rather than washing or submerging the item in water, try using a little bit of Magic Sizing to remove excess stabilizer. First, hoop your item with a backing (I use a lightweight tearaway) and a water soluble topping (I use pre-cut water soluble).
Then sew your design.
When finished, take item off hoop and remove backing.
Then flip item over and remove as much topping as possible. In picture on right below you can see the little bits of topping still clinging to the stitching inside the letters.
Roll topping you removed into a ball.
Spray the design with Magic Sizing (my aim is a little off in the picture, but it was hard to spray and take a pic at the same time! Oh--it has to be Magic Sizing Light Spray Starch--Niagra and EZ-On don't work, which leads me to believe that Magic Sizing truly is magic!).
Brush away Magic Sizing with hand and use topping ball to dab at remaining topping.
It's gone! Allow to air dry before packing for your customer!
Squee! My kitty gets a new blankie! ;-)
