Pilot Pen Frixion Erasable Rollerball Pen - Assorted Colours (Pack of 4)

Product Information

If you’re not familiar with Frixion pens, they are a line of pens and highlighters made by Pilot that are heat erasable. Frixion pens make a crisp, clear mark which goes on smoothly and easily with no skipping. After quilting, you simply steam the ink lines away and poof, they are gone! This seems like the Holy Grail of marking methods for us quilters. It is important to note that Pilot did not design the pens for fabric and did not test them on fabric while developing the concept.

So in summary, straight from the manufacturer’s mouth so to speak, a summary of using the Frixion pens on fabric:

About FriXion

Although most people know the ink system as thermo-sensitive ink, its official name is Metamo ink and unlike a regular pen ink, the ink in your Pilot Frixion pen has a number of microcapsules in it that contain three different substances. These are leuco dye, color developer, and a temperature regulator with each being an essential part of how your Frixion pens ink can be erased. Whether you're sketching, writing heartfelt stories, or creating playful doodles, this pen's remarkable erasability gently guides you to effortlessly refine and modify your creations as you please. The smooth and seamless writing experience it offers turns every stroke into a delightful adventure, fostering joy and creativity. So while the ability to erase is nice, it’s not really always a good idea to use the pens, depending on what you intend to do with that piece of paper! Thank you, all, for your thoughts and sharing your experiences. Many quilts take a significant amount of time, the cost of the materials can also be significant. Each of us must decide whether the risk is worth the use of the Frixion pen or other chemically-based products.

Now, the leuco dye in the Frixion pens essentially needs to be activated to actually show up on your paper, fabric, wood or other type of surface and this is where the other two ingredients come into play. Upon initial usage as well as while kept at below 60°C, the leuco dye in the Frixion ink will interact with the color developer and be visible and remain that way provided that it does not go above 60°C. For me, I will not use these pens very often because I frequently do competition pieces. I cannot risk having any problems with the marking method I use. I think they are great pens for other marking needs but we need to be aware of their limitations. And remember that the Pilot pen company did not design these pens for fabric.

Receive our newsletter :

FriXion Ball offers a sleek design and an innovative ink technology that is class leading. The friction-generated heat caused when rubbing the paper with the eraser tip, turns the ink invisible. These pens are available in a variety of colours and nib sizes to suit your writing style. I do not know whether anyone else mentioned this, but we also have “other chemicals” that could be interacting with the inks – these would be waxes and any treatment used on batiks to easily lift the wax after the dye is applied, the chemicals in the dyes, the chemistry of our water in the area where we live – perhaps this water element is THE key contributing factor that affects the ability of some quilters to remove the ink when laundering and others who saw no difference after laundering. The marks will reappear if the quilt gets cold (anything below freezing I think-I did not confirm the specific temperature) unless the mark is completely removed with an ink remover. Even after a thorough steam of the marks, they will reappear in the cold. This is part of the inherent chemistry of the ink combination. Sometimes they left what I call a “ghost” mark after steaming the initial mark away. It was faint, but certainly not something you would want to see on your quilt.

They are fantastic for school. Like regular gel pens, the ink easily flows & does not pool or dry in the tip. Unlike regular gel pens, they form a very thin line & can actually be erased. Students who use Frixion pens tend to have neater papers than those using ballpoint pens (which can also sometimes be erased) or other gel pens (which cannot be erased at all) and I’ve yet to see a single instance where a student ended up with ink all over his/her hands from a Frixion pen. I’m 100% in favor of them on paper. I personally don’t allow them anywhere near my sewing studio.Jenny thanks for the great article, my experience with Frixion pens found everything you said to be true. If you do need to write on wood with your Frixion pen then the regular pens will almost always be the better option. If you are just using paper then all three variants of the pen should be good enough to use without issue. How Does The Frixion Pen Ink Work? The PILOT company is strongly committed to preserving the environment. Frixion erasable pens are made with a minimum of 50% recycled plastic (except for consumables), and are refillable for more economical, long-lasting use. When you need to erase the ink of your Pilot Frixion, you simply apply friction with the eraser that is included on the end of your pen to warm your ink up. Although most people do tend to be surprised by this, it really does not take much to raise the temperature of the ink above 60°C to activate the temperature regulator in the ink. At this stage, the regulator activates and stops the interaction between the leuco dye and color developer making the ink from your Frixion disappear. Another source of chemicals would are the brand of spray starch or fabric finishes used during the pressing process.

I know of a person who filled out some paperwork with a Frixion pen, and gave the papers to someone else. Of course she left them in a hot car, not knowing what could happen. Oh no! It’s blank! So the author re-wrote the paper, not knowing that the freezer would solve this issue. I do think we need to continue to pass the word about the “hazards” of using these pens. As the popularity of the Pilot Frixion range continues to grow with each passing month while showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, we have constantly seen more and more questions being asked. Due to the unique properties of the Frixion range, we have noticed more and more people reaching out just to ask how do Frixion pens work? So I was off to find it which I did at my local Lowe’s. I raced home to try it on my quilt. I was very wary but was thrilled when the marks were completely removed from my quilt. No ring, no shadow, no damage to the fabric, batting etc. Although the majority of people tend to want to know about the thermo-sensitive ink technology, the actual ink delivery system is also important when it comes to how your pen works. The highlighter and fineliner variants of the pens use the standard felt transfer system where the ink in the pens ink cylinder is drawn to the felt nib and in turn transfered to your paper when pressure is applied.Frixion pens sometimes leave a ghost mark after steaming. This is the thermo ink showing on the quilt, not the gel. The Pilot rep said to rid the piece of ghost marks you would need to treat it with the ink removers listed above. This is my fourth and hopefully my final post on Frixion pens. A recent discussion on FaceBook prompted me to explore this one last time. Some prominent quilters and artists have said things about the Frixion pens that I have not found to be true in my own experience, so I needed to get the facts. I ended up talking directly with a rep at Pilot to get the facts. Frixion pen As to the ghost marks, I did not find a pattern as to which fabrics would show the marks. Some say that if you pre-wash your fabrics you won’t get those marks. That was not the case for me. So I had to test on any fabric I wanted to use them on to make sure I would not be left with ghost marks after steaming the ink marks away. Well.. Thanks Tonya’s MOM.. you just saved my 9″ x40″ cotton quilt banner that I made for a little boys quilt.. I embroidered a Barn, Semi. and the John Deere tractor with the hay wagons pulling all the letters of the little boys name. Having said that, I really don’t have a single marking solution that works on all or even most of my fabrics. If you or anyone you know (and trust!) ever does a Craftsy class or other web tutorial on quilt marking, please let me know — I’d be first in line to sign up!