In the wake of the demise of Timtex I’ve been doing a little stabilizer research. I purchased a several online nd played around with some from JoAnn’s and I’m posting my findings here. The contestants:
1) Peltex 70. Available at JoAnn’s for under $5/ yard. It comes in 22? width. This is a nice product, but thinner and more flexible than Timtex. When I use this in the bottom of a bag, I’ll often sew 2 layers together for the stability that I want. Peltex 71 is fusible on 1 side and Peltex 72 is fusible on 2 sides. They get thicker and pricier as you add a layer of glue.
2) Stiffy. This is not a comparable substitute for Timtex. It is very similar to Peltex 70. It is so very cheap at less than $2/yard but you’ll have to pay shipping if you can’t find it locally which brought my order to about $4/yard. It comes on a roll and is about 20? wide. One drawback is when I ironed it, my sewing room started to smell like a barnyard.
I’ve never done anything that needed Timtex, although who knows what the future holds. I’ll worry about it if the occasion ever arises. But for now, I just can’t get past a company thinking it was a good idea to call their product “stiffy”. Yes, I’m twelve years old.
Yes, the description is unfortunate. Obviously, they didn’t do much “cultural research”. I suspect that enough of a ruckus will be created to have someone else pick up the manufacture of it. Time will tell.