Iron-on embroidered patches are great, until you want to take them off. Here’s how to remove an embroidered patch without damaging your clothing.
A terrific option to accessorize is to sew personalized embroidered patches onto your bags, caps, jackets, and other clothing, up until you decide you no longer want that patch there. Luckily, securely removing an embroidered patch is not as difficult as you would imagine (without damaging your merch).
So You Want to Remove an Embroidered Patch, Then…
We are aware that everything nice has to end. You might want a fresh, personalized patch manufactured. You might decide to apply your unique patch to something else. It’s not important, but the backing of the patch is what matters!
Whether an embroidered patch is ironed on or sewn on, the removal process depends on the backing. Check to make sure you are aware of which patch backing is on the patch you wish to remove before we begin.
How to Take Off an Iron-On-Backing Embroidered Patch
What You Require
- Iron (yes… as silly as this may seem)
- A thin piece of cloth
- Wax paper
- If you have an ironing board, use that; if not, a towel will do
- Tweezers
- A rag
- Scissors
- Liquid adhesive remover
Note: Depending on which of the two ways you use (see below), you might not need all of the supplies listed above. While using an iron can sometimes be more convenient, if you’re not careful, it can also damage your fabric.
Iron Method
- Use your protective towel or your ironing board and make sure it’s on a flat surface.
- Check your fabric to determine the highest setting that won’t harm it before using an iron.
- Turn on your iron.
- Place the thin piece of cloth or wax paper over a discrete section of the fabric.
- For 15 seconds, press the iron against the paper or fabric.
- Look at the paper or fabric to check if the material has been harmed in any way.
- If a little area was harmed by the iron, STOP and attempt the glue remover procedure instead.
- If there was no damage, continue using this approach.
- Wax paper or a thin cloth can now be used to conceal the patch.
- With a hot iron, press the patch that is coated in wax paper or cloth for 15 seconds.
- Check to see if the glue weakened by lifting the wax paper or fabric. (If it still isn’t loose, go back to Step #10)
- Lift the edge of the patch with tweezers after the adhesive has become more flexible and pliable.
- With tweezers, lift and tug the patch until it falls off.
- Your patch is gone, but that gooey substance is still there. Use your adhesive remover at this point.
- Use a rag to apply the adhesive remover onto the residue for approximately a minute after dabbing it on.
- Use a toothbrush to clean the debris away.
- Use liquid laundry detergent to pretreat the area after the residue has been removed.
- As usual, place the fabric in the washing machine.
- Don’t dry the fabric if it comes out with residue; instead, continue the process until there is no residue left.
Using an Adhesive Remover
- Get your adhesive remover ready.
- To ensure there won’t be any damage, test the remover on a small, inconspicuous area of the fabric.
- Do not use it if it damages anything.
- If the fabric is flawless, you may continue.
- The fabric behind the patch can be seen by turning the fabric or material inside out.
- Spray or pour the remover on the patch beneath the fabric over a sink.
- For about a minute, use a rag to rub the liquid into the fabric.
- See if the patch will entirely or partially peel away from the fabric.
- Use your scissors to clip the patch off if it starts to lift off the fabric.
- Use extra remover and rub it in if the patch hasn’t completely come off.
- You ought to eventually be able to fully lift the patch. The residue should be all that is left, and you can remove any of this residue by following the instructions in the preceding section above.
How to Take Off a Sew-On Backing Embroidered Patch
What You Need
- Tweezers
- Seam Ripper
- Scissors (preferably sewing scissors)
- Iron
Instructions
- Expose the stitches from the patch by bending the fabric down.
- Put the long point of the seam ripper behind the stitching.
- Gently press the curved blade up against the stitching.
- Don’t rush and take your time to avoid tearing the fabric.
- Pushing the blade of the seam ripper against the thread, center it on the stitch.
- Repeat step 5 for each stitch while centering the seam ripper and pulling the blade up against the thread (make sure to go stitch by stitch to avoid putting holes into the fabric).
- You will be able to use the tweezers to pull sections of the thread as you proceed.
- The patch will pull away from the fabric once all of the stitches have been snipped.
- To cut out any extra threads that can end up glued to the fabric, use scissors and tweezers.
- If there are any holes in the fabric from the removed stitching, washing it should help.
After removing your patch, it’s time to get a new one and MakeMyPatch!