Sharpies win!
I like to make quilts where friends and family can sign them. Up til now, I have not been happy with how the signatures turned out. I have 2 graduations coming up, and I wanted these quilts to be signed. But I also wanted those signatures to be durable to last through the multiple washings in ordinary laundry detergent which I knew they would endure. (Unspeakable things happen to college quilts!)
Several weeks ago, I asked people on this board about which pens are best for this purpose. I got a bunch of answers. Many people are committed to Pigma brand pens, some like gel ink pens, and others preferred Sharpies.
So I went out and bought all of them – variety packs of different colors of the following pens:
-- Pigma (can't remember the size tip, but the biggest I could find)
-- Sharpies ultra fine point
-- Pentel smooth gel (medium point)
-- Uni-ball gel pens (medium point)
I then signed a leftover quilt square with different colors of each kind, signed the square with all colors of all of the pens. I then backed it with batting and flannel (just like the quilt I was making) and quilted it. I then began washing that square with almost every load of laundry I did.
RESULTS:
BEST SHARPIES - except RED, which faded more than the others. Note that these signatures looked the worst before washing.
MEDIUM PIGMA - Some WORDS are still readable, but many individual LETTERS are so faded as to be invisible. (This probably relates to the pressure used to make that particular stroke of the letter and to the difficulty in using these pens because the point is so fine that it is difficult to write on woven fabric.) If you use them, stick to black.
WORST GEL INK PENS - NONE of the gel pen signatures are very visible. In fact, almost every one faded so badly that entire words are scarcely visible at all. Note that these signatures looked GREAT before washing.
From now on, I will stick to Sharpies. If I want a more delicate look, I will use black Pigma pens with a thick tip.
I thought you might like to know!
Beth, MI
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