Monday, July 13, 2009

How-to: Remove Hotfix and E6000 Crystals from Figure Skating Dresses

If you set crystals, this post is going to rock your world.

I heard a rumor a few months ago that a gal was removing crystals from dresses with no damage to the dress. No way, I thought. No way.

Way.

I talked to the gal who removes the crystals and she just shrugged and told me she uses Goo Gone. It takes them right off and doesn’t leave a stain.

I tried it on that Harry Potter pillow case – the one that has both hotfix and E6000 crystals on it. It took off the crystals and left no stain. It also removed the sequins from that troublesome fabric in an earlier post with no stain, either.

How to remove crystals with Goo Gone:
  • Use a tissue. I tried cotton rounds, but cotton left fibers behind.
  • Saturate the tissue. You’ll use lots of Goo Gone for this.
  • Dab the front and back. Dab at the crystal area from both the front of the fabric and the back of the fabric to loosen the crystal.
  • Don’t tug. The crystal will loosen eventually. Don’t tug on it the rest of the way or you’ll remove some of the silver paint on the back of the crystal. Be patient and keep dabbing at the bugger until it releases on its own. Then you can re-use the crystal (with E6000 as a glue; you can’t hotfix it again).
  • Hotfix comes off easily. Hotfix crystals came off the pillowcase the easiest, but the E600 wasn’t too bad. The crystals came off, but left a little lump of glue on the lycra. I just peeled off the little lumps.
  • Do a practice run. Glue some crystals to a scrap of lycra before using the Goo Gone on a dress. You can take my word that it doesn’t stain, but I’d rather you didn’t. Give it a shot for yourself and see if it works for you.
Update: lighter fluid, the kind you put in a lighter and is sold alongside tobacco, not charcoal, is terrific at removing crystals, both hotfix and E6000. As always, test first!

Share your results! Did you try this at home? How did it go? We’re all curious, so let us know!

12 comments:

Jessim said...

Excellent post- I never thought to use goo gone! I have some pants I've put rhinestones and as they start to come loose due to washing I pull them off- now I can get the spots off too!

Anonymous said...

I found out from the man that sharpens my daughters skates that you can also use goo gone on your figure skates to remove residue from skate tape or any other sticky substances that get on your skates.
I love this post. Thank you for letting me know this information. I'm thinking about having my daughters old dresses turned into a quilt for when she graduates from high school and I may need to remove some of the stones. This is also helpful when you make a mistake while stoning a new dress. Thank you for all your great advice. Season

Becky said...

Wow! You just saved me a bundle!!! Last year my daughter skated to big band music so I made her dress and put over 2 gross of size 30 crystal AB swarovskis (cha ching!!)on it. Well when she wore the dress I decided that I hated it. So dress number one in all of its flashy glory was banned to the closet and I made her a second dress(new style and color) again with lots of those expensive little buggers! Well it's a new season so time for a new program and a new dress which I want to use size 30 crystal AB's again, I was about to crack out the credit card to order some when I read this post! I still have ugly(blingy)dress number one sitting in the closet never to be used again so I am going to get out my goo gone and see if I can recycle some of those pricey little rocks!!!
Thanks Ice Mom! You Rock!!!!

Anonymous said...

I use Goo Gone, too, but I prefer lighter fluid. Lighter fluid dissolves just about any kind of adhesive and is colorless. If I set a crystal in a wrong place, I take it off with lighter fluid. I had an issue with Goo Gone discoloring a white garment once, but I'll still use if it's not white. I still prefer the lighter fluid, though!

Jillybean said...

I've never heard of Goo Gone, however, I will file this information away for future use.
I've removed hot fix crystals by heating them with the hair dryer and then puling them off the dress while they're still warm. Time consuming, but I was able to salvage 3 gross of stones from one dress to be used on another one.

Jillybean said...

Make that "pulling" them off the dress.
(Apparently the glue fumes from the crystals are affecting my spelling skills.)
;0)

Anonymous said...

omg i am so going to recycle those very expensive crystals!! BTW I stoned my first dress and I have to say it came out really good. Even DH was impressed.

I am also going to post a question, I am a bit desperate here. I need to kind of loop music for a show. What is that called? Can i do it myself? If not what can I call it so someone can do it? I can't sleep from nervousness. The music is only 30 seconds and I need double that. I will pay to have someone do it.

Thanks so much for yout blog.

Luv ya and your blog!

Angie said...

Thank-you! That is a MUST have for any skating mom who crystals! I must add that to my list because I have had to redo a design before due to a mistake I made! I wonder if it works on the stretvh velvet fabric?

Anonymous said...

I was pretty nervous about gluing stones on my daughter's 2 new dresses. I've replaced missing crystals before but had not yet stoned an entire dress. The Goo Gone option relieved a lot of stress! I did use the goo gone to remove a few stones that slid or were in the wrong spot for the design. You were absolutely right - NO STAINS! Yea!
After gluing around 5 gross of stones (split between 2 dresses) over the last 2 days - I'm definitely doing the happy skater mom dance! Now, what are the odds she won't grow out of these before the end of the season?

Anonymous said...

I was wondering where you get your hotfix crystals. my mom always takes my dresses to be stoned professionally but apparently thats super expensive. anyway we are going to try to use hotfix on my spins and jumps dresses but have no clue where to get them! Please let me know where you get yours! Thanks!

Ice Mom said...

Hey, Anony. I buy my fancy crystals from dreamtimecreations.com. I buy my cheap hotfix crystals from JoAnn Fabrics. I know, it's heresy time. But I buy the Tulip brand hotfix in packages of 300 (assorted sizes and sometimes assorted colors) for just $13. Less, if I have a JoAnn coupon.

No one has ever told me that my crystals look cheap. Just the opposite, in fact.

So, Anony, you can buy the cheap hotfix - just don't tell anyone! :)

Tina said...

This "how to" article is very helpful.