505 Spray Adhesive Stains

This is the second lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions!

505 Spray Adhesive Stains

505 is a wonderful spray adhesive to use when sticking my fabric to my stabilizer when I am stitching machine embroidery designs. But occasionally some of the adhesive gets sprayed on the fabric. Sometime it is caused by some residue left over from spraying too much on the stabilizer in the hoop. A dark circle appears on your fabric, marking where the 505 has been. The dark circle stain dries and it appears as though it is there to stay.

Cause: Too much spray adhesive or spray adhesive has been sprayed on the fabric instead of the stabilizer. For lightweight designs, only a small amount of spray adhesive is needed. The fabric does not need to stay stuck down as long as a denser design.

Solution: Use 90% rubbing alcohol (not the drinking kind :)) to get 505 out of your fabric or project. The 90% is important; not all stores stock that percentage. The lower percentage bottles will not be as effective as the 90%. Look for this in the pharmacy departments of most stores. If you still cannot get the stain out with the alcohol, try using Ecover Citrus Cleaner & Degreaser. It's an oil based cleaner that can be found in many stores or online.

Prevention: Always spray 505 on the stabilizer, never the fabric. Avoid spraying too much 505 on the hooped stabilizer before sticking the fabric on top of it.

You can see slightly darker areas on this pink baby blanket from
leftover 505 spray adhesive transferred to the fabric.

Right above the gingerbread men, there is a dark spot
of 505 where it was sprayed on the fabric instead of the stabilizer.