Glossary → Tearaway and wash-away stabilizer
Tearaway and wash-away stabilizer.
backings meant to leave the garment, one torn off, one dissolved
Both are hooped under the fabric the way cutaway backing is, and both are supposed to be gone by the time the garment ships. Tearaway is a non-woven pulled away from inside and outside the design once it comes off the machine, and it belongs on stable wovens: denim, canvas, jacket backs. Madeira's own guidance is to pick the weight from the design and not the fabric alone, because the larger and denser the design, the heavier the backing it needs (Madeira E-Zee Tear Away). Wash-away is a mesh that dissolves in warm water, used for lace, patches, emblems, applique and anything where the back of the stitching will be seen (Madeira E-Zee Cut Washaway), and its film relative goes on top of pile so the stitches do not sink. The failure is reaching for tearaway on a knit because it is quicker to clean up: the backing leaves, the knit is on its own, and the logo distorts the first time the shirt is stretched. Tearing is mechanical work on the stitches at the edge of the design too, so half-torn backing under a tight satin border is a defect the customer finds before you do.