What is the best batting for a pot holder?

Have you ever grabbed a dish towel to take a cookie sheet out of the oven?  Would this work as the batting for a pot holder?  Maybe you made a pot holder and wondered how much batting is really needed, and if the special insulating batting really works.  I wondered the same things and set out to answer these questions and more.

To determine how well different materials insulated, I took my trusty Bar-B-Que temperature probe and iron and measured how the temperature under the potholder increased with time.  I used a variety of materials; cotton batting, an old stained dish towel, a terry cloth towel from Goodwill, denim from a pair of torn blue jeans, cotton knit from my husband’s worn out undershirt, pieces from an old flannel sheet and Insul-Brite.  Insul-Brite is a metallic poly sheet with a thin layer of polyester batting on both sides.  It is advertised as an insulating batting for pot holders, oven mitts etc.

cotton batting dish towel as batting terry cloth batting denim as batting tee shirt batting flannel as batting insul-brite batting

I put the probe under a sandwich of two pieces of cotton fabric and the various battings and put a hot iron on top.  I checked the temperature after 15, 30, 45 and 60 seconds.  The results of the first round of testing is in the chart below.  I then sewed up a variety of pot holders and retested the time, in case the quiltichecking potholder insulationng made a difference.  It didn’t.  I then wanted to give them a more practical test, so I put my hand underneath the pot holder and hot iron on top. I timed how many seconds before I had to pull my hand away.  I know that using my hand isn’t the most scientific method, but it gave some interesting results.  For example, the 4 layers of tee-shirt fabric with Insul-Brite in the middle got unbearably hot much more quickly than I would have guessed based on temperature alone.  I have added these results in the last column of the chart and called it “Hot Time”.

It seems that “fluffiness” is the critical factor in providing protection for your hands. The air trapped in the fabric of the batting and terry cloth provide more insulation.  To prove this definitively would require more work than I am ready to commit to this project, but my conclusion is that fabric like tee-shirts and denim are more densely woven and conduct the heat to your fingers more quickly.  The dish towel that I sacrificed for this study was not only ugly and stained, but threadbare.  I think that a thicker towel would have performed better.

If your pot holder is mostly decorative, or you are just going to use pot holderit as a trivet for items that are only a little too warm for your table top, don’t worry about the batting, use anything you want.  If it is going to get a lot of actual oven use, I would suggest going thicker.  I have taken a casserole out of the oven and only then noticed that all the trivets were in use and it took me several seconds to find a place to set it down.  The last thing you want is for your fingers to start burning while holding a full pan of ground beef, noodles and tomato sauce.    I would recommend that you use at least 2 layers of batting material. Either towels or cotton batting or a combination of batting and Insul-Brite.

What about Insul-Brite?  Well, it absolutely works.  It will keep your fingers 5⁰ to 10⁰ cooler or about and extra 5 to 10 seconds of carrying time. Please be aware that the instructions say to keep a layer of batting between the Insul-Brite andIron Mark on Insulbrite the heat source.  They aren’t kidding.  The fuzzy stuff on either side of the foil is polyester.  See in the picture how the iron left a mark after 60 seconds.  The Insul-Brite wasn’t even directly touching the iron, it was between two layers of cotton fabric.  The foil layer means that this is not microwave safe, so keep that in mind for projects like insulated bread warmer baskets.  It also makes a soft crinkling sound when bent.  Used correctly, it is a great product and I would recommend it if you were very concerned about temperature.  It isn’t absolutely necessary though, so don’t let a lack of this product prevent you from sitting down at your sewing machine.

If you want this quilt to be used as a trivet for very hot items, then look to how the products hold up leaf pot holderafter 60 seconds.  According to Wilson Art, a manufacturer of laminate counter tops (similar to Formica), their glue can start to soften at 200 ⁰F and you should avoid prolonged contact greater than 150 ⁰F.  Corian, solid surface counter tops, say their product can withstand 300 ⁰F.  But other web sites say you should keep the temp. below 212 ⁰F.  Wood will char at 248 ⁰F but the finish can be affected by much lower temperatures.  I have seen a table’s finish marred by the moisture and warmth of a delivery pizza box.   There is no exact number, but my best guess is that you would want to keep the 1 minute temperature at or below 140 ⁰F.  I know that you bring things out of the oven as hot as 450 ⁰F, but realize that the pan is starting to cool as soon as it hits the room temperature air.  So, while the bottom of the pot holder is getting warmer over time, the pan or dish is getting cooler over time.  If you are really concerned, then go with a triple layer, it will keep the temperature below 130 ⁰F.  The triple layer items are similar to the commercial pot holder which I have used for many years and never had it burn my fingers or mark my table.

My next question was how difficult would it be to quilt a potholder with thicker and thicker batting.  My Bernina didn’t have any problem with 3 layers of cotton, but the final trim was a little difficult with my rotary cutter.  I used an open toed foot, a walking foot and the free motion foot and didn’t have any problem with any of them.  The triple layer of terrycloth towel, shown below, just barely fit under the open toe presser foot on the Bernina Artista 165. Triple Terry Cloth batting

To get to the center of the piece with the walking foot, I had to lower the feed dogs.  There was plenty of room under the free motion foot.    Once in place I had no trouble sewing through all the layers of fabric with any of the feet.  I checked very carefully and only found one skipped stitch.   It is worth noting however that the sandwich was so thick that the free motion foot didn’t appear to move up and down, but I was still able to move the fabric back and forth.  There was also plenty of space under all of the feet on my Bernina B740.  The real problem was using the rotary cutter for the final trim before adding the binding.  I have three rotary cutters, a Gingher, an OLFA and a Fiskars.  Only the Fiskars had enough space between the edge of the blade and the center holder to be able to cut through all the layers.  Cutting the layers with scissors was slow and difficult until I pulled out my great hacking 10” Gingher Dressmaker Shears.

In conclusion, almost any scrap cotton items you have lying around will work fine for a decorative pot holder or one that only gets light duty.  Cotton batting and towel material work best and you can add Insul-Brite to give it a little boost.  finished pot holder 2My personal choice depends on whether this is for a gift or if I am going to use it myself.  If I am giving this as a gift, I would use either 2 layers of terry cloth (1st choice) or 2 layers of cotton batting, depending on what I had on hand.  I wouldn’t use the Insul-Brite because some people may not like the crinkly sound.  For myself, I love the idea of turning an old ugly dish towel into something new and beautiful.  I use 2 layers of dish towel with a layer of Insul-Brite in the middle.  I don’t mind the sound and the extra insulation protects these quilting fingers.

So, before you throw away that old dish towel, beach towel or bath towel, think about giving it new life with some left-over fabric and a little imagination.

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Description
 Thick
inches
 Thick
mm
Temp
15
sec
 Temp
30
sec
 Temp
45  sec
Temp
60  sec
 Hot
Time sec
No Batting, 2 pieces of cotton fabric  0.02  0.51  139  160  203  245
Double Layer Tee Shirt  0.055  1.397  135  148  156  175
Single Layer Blue Jeans  0.062  1.57  125  164  198  233
Single Layer Cotton Batting  0.066  1.67  126  142  161  185  14
Single Layer Insul-Brite  0.067  1.7  115  136  156  177
Single Layer Old Dish Towel  0.082  2.08  130  151  160  183
2 Layers Blue Jeans  0.088  2.24  107  145  158  165
2 Layers Cotton Batting  0.091  2.31  114  129  137  144  35
Single Layer Terry Cloth Towel  0.096  2.44  125  145  152  161
4 Flannel Sheets  0.1  2.54  115  138  150  160
4 Cotton Tee Shirt  0.102  2.59  116  143  152  157
Cotton Batting on Top Foil on Bottom  0.105  2.67  108 123 135  149  40
Foil on Top Cotton Batting on Bottom  0.105  2.67  109  126  140  154
6 Layers Tee Shirt, no outer fabric  0.112  2.84  106  133  146  157
2 Layers Old Dish Towel  0.12  3.12  106  131  140  148  24
6 Layers Tee Shirt  0.134  3.4  95  124  135  141
2 Blue Jeans Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.137  3.48  109  132  141  147
4 Flannel Sheets Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.15  3.81  100  127  135  140
4 Cotton Tee Shirt Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.152  3.86   98  124  132  138  25
2 Layers Terry Cloth Towel  0.163  4.14   93  124  134  140  40
8 Layers Flannel Sheet  0.183  4.65   90  120  135  141
2 Cotton Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.186  4.72   92  113  118  124  55
Triple Cotton Batting  0.188  4.78  100  119  123  129  49
Triple Dish Towel  0.193  4.90   86  109  125  135  35
2 Dish Towel Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.199  5.05   88  113  126  131  45
2 Terry Towel Insul-Brite in the Middle  0.25  6.35   81  101  118  128
Triple Terry Towel  0.274  6.96   80  101  119  128  85
Commercial Pot Holder  0.281  7.14   88  112  128  138  65

All Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.

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73 Replies to “What is the best batting for a pot holder?”

  1. This is a post from 2018 and here I am finding it for the first time in 2023. Absolutely wonderful research and exactly what I needed. Not sure if anything has changed in 5 years, but I doubt it. I’m going to do the terry towels with the InsulBrite in the middle. It may have the sound, but it’s a reminder it’s made to help!

    Thank you again.

    Monica

  2. Thank you for putting in the time and thought into this. I was just looking into the insulbright and although I have used it before, my husband says it still burns his hand if he is holding something more than 15 seconds. I am going to try the cotton, insulbright, cotton and see how that works again. Very nice of you to provide this, it helps alot. Thank you, Sylvia

  3. Thank you for your hard work and research! I’m so glad I found your article before starting to make my first potholder. My first thought is to visit a few thrift stores for old terry-cloth dish towels as an alternative to batting since I don’t usually keep mine when they start to look worn out. This is just another wonderful excuse to hit up my favorite thrift stores! Thank you again!

    • Thrift stores are a great place to get potholder batting. I found an old stained terrycloth bathrobe at a Goodwill bulk outlet (you pay by the pound). I washed it with some bleach and it was perfect batting.

      • I’ve been reading your post on pot holders. This is all great information! Thank you for sharing your research! I’m working on larger casserole dish pot holders. I have thicker 100% cotton bath towels I want to cut down for these along with the insulbrite. I want to leave the towel exposed. For my decorative fabric, I have 100% polyester sheets that match the towels perfectly, but I was wondering if the polyester would melt (says to dry on low heat) or if I need to find different decorative fabric. Layer progression would be casserole dish, thick towel, insulbrite, thick towel, polyester fabric, table. I would be using this straight from the oven. Any thoughts would be most helpful! Thanks!

        • With 2 layers of thick towels and a layer of insulbrite, the polyester fabric should be ok. I use these potholders all the time as trivets on my table and any heat that is great enough to melt polyester fabric would also be hot enough to damage the finish on my table. When used as a trivet, you should be fine.

          However, I cannot recommend using polyester on anything that is going to be so close to the burners on the oven. If someone uses this as a pot holder and takes food out of the oven with it, there is a risk that the polyester could touch one of the heating elements and catch fire. I know this because my husband’s grandmother absentmindedly grabbed a “Handi Wipe” to pull some cookies from her oven and managed to start a small fire.

          Sorry, I know that this isn’t the answer you wanted to hear, but I would feel bad if anything happened to you.

  4. Hi. I just found this post, and I’m so glad I did! I’ve made lots of potholders, but can never decide on the perfect “recipe.” I know what a terrycloth towel is, but I do have a question about “dish towels”: We we talking about fine-weave “flour sack” towels, or coarser-weave “tea towels,” or something else?

    Thanks!

    • Thanks for reading. You are right I should have been more clear. The dish towel that I used has a smaller set of loops and is thinner than the terry cloth bath towel, but has much more texture than the “flour sack” towels or “tea towels”. You can see a close up of the texture near the front of the article. The second picture in the list of fabrics (the first image in the article) is a close up of the dishtowel that I used. The loft created by the loops is what creates most of the insulation.

      I hope that this helps.

      Brita

  5. What a useful article. Really appreciate your thoughtful process and all the work you put into it and then share your findings with us, very helpful! Thank you!

    1. I am always on the lookout for the perfect ‘recipe’ for the perfect potholder! (LOL – Thick enough to stop the heat yet thin enough to be flexible. Thin enough to fit under the feed-dogs and to sew through without jamming or breaking any needles!)
    2. I make 25 pairs to mail out as my Christmas ‘cards’ to relatives every year.
    3. The fabric and the battings seem thinner now?
    4. Bless those who make these to sell, I think I would have to charge 30 dollars for each one to break even!
    5. I DO machine wash and machine dry all the fabrics and battings I use before I make my potholders. I try to stick to all cottons. (I wonder about wool. Can you machine wash and dry potholders made with wool batting?)

    • Hi Patty,

      Thanks so much for that well thought out comment. I haven’t made a pot holder using wool batting yet. I bought a piece of wool batting for a different project and there was a disclaimer saying that it wasn’t made for pot holders. I don’t know if this is just for liability purposes or if the binder to keep the high loft in the wool batting isn’t heat resistant. Wool itself is naturally flame resistant but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily true of the manufactured wool quilt batting.

      This is certainly on my list of things to try when I finally get around to making an update to this article.

      As for using wool in a potholder that you intend to wash. All the current manufacturers of wool batting claim that their products are “Pre-Shrunk” and have only 2% or 3% Shrinkage. Cotton batting can shrink as much as 5%. So it doesn’t seem like that should be much of a problem. I would however use low heat when drying them in the dryer.

      Thank you for reading.

      • Thanks for this research and writing it all up to share! I have a stack of old towels I want to upcycle but don’t know how to thread my sewing machine… yet (I’m thinking floor pillow stuffing and now potholder batting, thanks to you)

        My store bought potholders fabric covers wear out and get threadbare & get holes. The batting also clumps. Do I need to worry about preventing that somehow with 2 or 3 layers of Terry cloth batting? I an worried the rough terrycloth batting will rub against the fabric cover and create holes after a short time. Or will wash weird and bunch.

        But I also don’t sew – so I’m making a lot of assumptions.

        Thanks again!

        • Hi Rachel,
          I am glad that you like the article. Upcycling old towels into potholders is a great idea.

          Potholders with terrycloth batting should hold up even better than standard batting. If you think about sending a towel through the washing machine vs throwing a square of batting through the same machine. The towel will hold up much better. As far as the terrycloth rubbing against the fabric, that shouldn’t be much of a problem because of the quilting. So long as the quilting is no more than a couple of inches apart, there shouldn’t be very much rubbing. The towels will bunch less over time than normal non woven batting, but nothing lasts forever with regular washing.

          BUT, you will need to be able to run a sewing machine to make these. There are some projects that can be hand quilted, but this is not one of those. There are lots of videos out there on how to run your brand of sewing machine and even more on how to get started sewing and quilting.

          Good luck. Let me know how it turns out.

      • If I may make a suggestion about wool, maybe felt a thrifted wool sweater and cut the size needed? BTW, great suggestion about the towels and a very thorough research about materials. Thank you so much.

        • I will definitely try the thrifted wool sweater when it is time to update. That is a really good idea, thanks for sharing it.

  6. Hello and what a great test . I am not a quilter but a knitter . I plan on knitting some cotton pot holders and came across your info while researching batten . I had planned on using all cotton to stuff 2 pot holders and then crochet them together .
    Thank you. I enjoyed you and your writing
    It was very helpful

  7. Thank you. It helped me design a bag to put my 95yo Mum’s spare hot wheat heat pack in so as it keeps warm ready for overnight aches. xo

  8. I love the idea of old towels as batting. Why didn’t I think of that??? I have lots I could use. Thanks for sharing!

  9. You are wonderful! I was asking myself these same questions, and I dodn’t have time to delve deep enough into research and development right now. Thank you so much!

  10. Hi!
    Thank You for sharing all your research info! Very helpful. I am starting to sale potholders and kitchen mitts. What is your thought of using 2 layers of the Insul Bright? (Just purchased lots of Insul Brite) Would you suggest multi layers for the oven mitt?
    Thank You
    Gina/Sewologist

    • Hi Gina,
      I would NOT recommend 2 layers of InsulBright because of the polyester batting attached to the foil. There need to be cotton insulation between the heat source and the InsulBright. For really good insulation for a kitchen mitt or heavy use pot holder I would recommend 2 layers of cotton batting with a layer of InsulBright in the middle.

      Hope this help,
      Brita

  11. I’m a new quilter. This is wonderful information. Thank you! I want to make a table runner and trivet set for a house-warming present. I love the autumn leaf trivet in your article. Is there a pattern for that somewhere? Many thanks!
    Anne

  12. Hi Brita, great article thankyou, I was wondering have you tested bamboo wadding? If not do you think it would be ok to use in the oven gloves? Trying to use what I have at home.

    • I used leftover bamboo batting from a quilting project to make a hot mitt (one layer bamboo, one layer insulbright) and it was surprising less heat proof than mitts I made from one layer of warm and natural + one layer insulbright (both with quilting cotton/linen mix on outside). Not sure why because seemed about the same thickness but anyway, my two cents.

      • I have never used Bamboo batting so it is very interesting to hear that they don’t work as well as the cotton batting. When I get a chance to update this article, I will definitely try bamboo.
        Thanks so much for the information.

  13. Hi Brita, thank you for this excellent article! I am trying to use materials I have in the house; what do you think about felt as an insulating layer? Thanks for any ideas – Deb

    • Hi Deb,

      I think felt would be a good choice as long as it is either wool or cotton. You can check if it is synthetic material by taking a little piece and holding a match next to it. Synthetic material will curl in on itself as it melts. If you burn a little edge (do this in the sink) then blow out the flame, cotton or wool will have a little glow on the fibers and synthetic will clump up into little balls.

      If that doesn’t work, you can always use a couple of layers of an old dish towel.

      Thanks for reading,
      Brita

      • I was hoping you would say an old dish towel would be OK. I’m not sure if I am going to make many, so I don’t want to buy batting until I’m sure. I’ve bee so afraid of quilting, even though I’ve dreamt about it since I started sewing 52 year ago! Guess I better take the plunge before it’s too late. Thanks for your advice. Patty

    • Hi Renee,

      I have never prewashed my batting and I have no problem washing the potholders. I do however prewash all my fabric. I love batiks and would hate to have a project ruined by running colors.

      Thanks for reading,
      Brita

  14. I am so tickled I found your post! I have some sort of insulation I bought at Joanne’s but no batting. I have a plethora of old towels and dish towels. I thought, well why can’t I use these???

    I haven’t sewn in many years and never this type stuff.

    Thank You so much for sharing your personal research and guiding the rest of us!!

    • I am so glad that you found this useful. I love the thought of re-purposing items that have outlived their original purpose. I would love to see how your pot holders come out. Thanks so much for reading.

      Brita

  15. I have an abundance of wool fabric, but you didn’t include wool in your research. What do you think about using a couple of layers of wool fabric?

  16. Ok so I am so new to all this sewing stuff and I want to make sure I am understanding this correctly. Are u saying that a potholder is 5 layers?
    1 layer decorative cotton top
    1 layer of old towel
    1 layer of insul-bright
    1 layer of old towel
    1 layer decorative cotton bottom
    Thank you for your time.

    • Hi Carol,

      Thanks for reading the article and asking the question.

      First, all quilts, including pot holders, are made up of at least 3 layers. A top, a bottom and some sort of filling. In America this is called batting, in England it is sometimes called wadding. The assembly you mention above has 3 layers of batting, 2 old towels and 1 insul-brite.

      This is exactly what I would use for a heavy use, commercial grade type pot holder. However, as with most things in life there is a trade off. The more layers of batting, the greater the insulation properties, but the thicker the potholder and the more difficult it can be to sew.

      Think about how you plan to use this potholder.

      • Is it going to be light use? Taking cookie sheets or casseroles out of a medium hot oven and immediately putting them down. Then you would only need two layers of towels as batting. You could skip the insul-brite.
      • Is it going to be a hostess gift? These are usually light duty, see above.
      • It is going to be used as a trivet to protect and decorate your dining table? Two layers of batting will be fine.
      • Do you use metal pans on your grill? These can get to over 500 Degrees F. You will want that third layer of batting (insul-brite).
      • Other heavy use or very hot applications? My husband pre-heats our cast iron skillet in the oven to 500 degrees. We have a wall oven and it is several steps to the stove top. Definitely want 3 layers of batting. The 5 layer assembly you describe.
      • Is this going to be your primary pot holder and you want it to be able to do everything? Go for the three layers of batting.

      You don’t mention whether the old towels are heavy bath or beach towels, or light weight dish towels. Obviously, if the dish towels are very thin, go ahead and add that third layer of insul-brite.

      Hope this helps.
      You can contact me directly if you have any more questions.
      Brita

      brita@questioningquilter.com

  17. Thank you for this. I have been wanting to make potholders for Christmas and I cannot find insulated batting anywhere. Now I know I can just use Terry cloth.

  18. I want to be sure I have the layers correct. Does the insul bright ho on the outside the layer closest to the heat source? And then the cotton batting, towel etc goes on the inside layer, the layer closest to your hand?

    • Hi Tracy,
      The insul-bright should go closest to your hand. If you want really, really insulated, use three layers of batting; cotton, insul-bright, cotton. If the insul-bright is too close to the heat the polyester fleece around the foil will melt.

      Hope this helps,
      Brita

  19. Thank you for sharing the results of your research. I’ve been wanting to make some new potholders but have found that just one layer of batting was not enough. Never thought about using the terry towels which I have a bunch of and have used them to make bath mats..two layers of terry with batting in the middle.

  20. Thank you for this article.. I decided to use miscellaneous scraps to make handle holders.. tried wrap and zap.. no help..
    Researching for what works.. found your article and I have lots of old towels that could use a new life..

    • I am so glad that you found this helpful. I love when I can “up-cycle” an old item. Sure beats sending those old towels to a land fill.

      Brita

  21. Thank you for your excellent work. I bought a pure wool picnic blanket from an op-shop and will use that in addition to the insul-bright. I thought that the insul-bright would be enough on its own… Thanks for saving me work and cost!

  22. Thank you SO MUCH for doing this work and generously sharing it! You have saved many people from burnt hands and melted potholders!!! Thank you!!!

  23. Curious to know how using Wrap & Zap would compare to using the Insul-Bright with cotton batting in the middle. 🙂 thanks. I am wanting to make some cute custom potholder/trivets for holding hot casserole and pots on the table or countertop (not in the microwave).

    • Hi Mandey,
      I am planning to make an update to this article some time this spring. I also want to compare wool batting, Pellon’s Insul-Fleece, Thinsulate and Bosal Poly-Therm Fleece. I will add Wrap & Zap to the list.

      Thanks for the suggestion,
      Brita

      • Have you done your test using Wrap & Zap. I am planning to use two layers for mine to be all cotton so in case they want to put it in the Microwave in place of a bowl Cozy.
        Thank you

    • I haven’t yet, but it is a good idea. I will look for wool batting next time I am at the quilt store, and post my results.

  24. Thank you for the information. I am going to be making some potholders & I thought I had really scored b/c I found an old polyester matress cover at a second hand store that I was going to use for the potholders. After reading this I think that the polyester would be a poor choice. Do you agree? I tried the Insul-Brite on one & couldn’t stand the crinkle sound. With the information you provided I see that you don’t have to have it for a good pot holder.

    • I really wouldn’t recommend using the polyester. Aside from the melting risk at high temperatures, polyester will burn at a much lower temperature than cotton. My husband’s grandmother was badly burned by accidentally grabbing an old handi-wipe cloth to pull cookies out of the oven. It caught on fire and melted at the same time catching her dress on fire. I only use cotton batting in my baby quilts for the same reason.

      For extra insulation, 3 layers of cotton batting works great and a couple of layers of an old cotton terrycloth towel is wonderful. I found the towel that I used for the experiment at the Goodwill Outlet Store. These are different than a regular Goodwill store because clothes, sheets, towels, etc are in big bins and are sold by the pound. You can find out if there is one near you by going to their web site. https://www.gwoutletstorelocator.com/

      Recently, a friend of mine suggested getting a cheap ironing board cover at the dollar store. I haven’t tried that yet, but it may be another economical solution.

      Thanks for reading.
      Brita

      • What a great idea to use an ironing board cover! I’m making decorative hot pads for my own kitchen and they will be used by my kids even it I say they are just decoration. I’ll try it on the back side (with two cotton batting layers inside) and hopefully they’ll use that side against the pan, helping to prevent food stains and scorching of the decorative side! (Nobody worry here. These are grown kids.)

        Your article was so informative, just what I was looking for. Thanks for posting!

        Thanks also for mentioning how flammable polyester is and not to use it for childrens’ bedding! Remember not to leave any loose bedding in crib with a newborn!

      • Hey Brita! Just a heads up, the Goodwill Outlet website you mention is bit outdated and missing some locations that moved or closed down in the past few years.

        The best way to find Goodwill Outlets is using https://goodwilloutlets.com/.

        I’m a big fan of the outlets too for cheap and quality finds. Hope this helps!

    • I’m making a table runner with buffalo check deco fabric. I want to put hot pans on it. I hope this will work for me. This is very informative. Thank you!!

  25. I just made a bunch of potholders for Christmas presents. I used the insulated batting plus a layer of cotton batting. I personally don’t like thick potholders b/c they are difficult for me to use; I prefer thinner ones that bend easily.

    • Hi Elaine,
      Thanks for the comment. I found that when using just one layer of cotton batting and 1 layer of insulated batting, it is better for the cotton batting to be on the side that would most likely be next to the hot pan (usually the bottom).

    • I cannot handle thick potholders well, nor can my husband. I look at thrift stores, dollar stores, everywhere for thin, well-insulated potholders. Nothing. And even though my sewing skills are remedial, at best, I am determined to make potholders that will work for us. I just threw away 4 of them that I have had for 30+ years. All I am left with are high-end, ridiculously thick ones that won’t grab a pot without folding over and getting food all over it.

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