The
Rhinestones used to attach to garments, whether glue-on or iron
on, are flat on the back side. There are two basic types of Flatback
Rhinestone. One is the Regular Flatback, more commonly known as
the glue-on rhinestone. The other is the Hot Fix Flatback, more
commonly known as the iron-on rhinestone. These two types of Flatback
have no difference in colors. The only difference is in the method
by which they are placed, applied or attached to the fabric or to
whatever surface you may want to attach them on to. The
weakest link in the rhinestone system is its mirror backing, the
coating on the back of a rhinestone is a mirror bonded to the glass.
This mirror does not have a very strong bond with the glass and
can be pulled free of the glass over time. This is why you may see
a silver spot where a rhinestone used to be.
When you use heat set rhinestones, only the backing is glued to
the fabric. These stones will come loose over time in a washing
machine and/or dryer. It is highly advised to hand-wash any items
with glued rhinestones, regardless of how they are put on the garment.You
will find the setters, glues, settings and Bejeweler here on our
website under supplies.
Do
not dry clean any garment that has any kind of glued stones on it,
be it glue or heat fix. Regardless of the manufacturer, the cleaning
fluids can denature the glue, cause it to become yellow and brittle,
or just plain dissolve it. |
