Those pesky labels.. 6 steps to removing labels on African wax print fabric

Depending on the quantity of ankara print you have bought in an order, you may get a piece of fabric that has the manufacturers label on it. This sticker usually appears on the first 1-yard section of a 6 or 12 yard length piece of fabric. We stock GTP fabric from Ghana and you may be familiar with the label which contains information such as country of origin, bundle length and so on.

This is all great but you probably want to get rid of the label quite quickly to get to your sewing. These bad boys can be sometimes tricky. Some come off easily if done patiently and slowly starting from one corner and pulling up gradually. Oftentimes, they rip halfway through and become almost impossible to remove without making a mess. So here is an easy way to get rid of them with an iron and a little bit of patience.

HOW TO REMOVE THEM

1. Make sure you carry out this process BEFORE WASHING the fabric

2. Place the part of the fabric with the label on an ironing board with the label facing down (the back of the fabric facing up towards you)

3. Feel the fabric the get a general idea of where the label is in order to position the iron for the next step

4. With an iron on a medium/high setting, place the iron on the area continuously for about 10 to 12 seconds. Move the iron around a little to ensure the fabric is fine. DO NOT IRON the label directly. This must be done on the reverse side of the fabric only!

5. After this step, turn the fabric over and from one corner start to peel off the label. You will notice is comes away very easily without ripping. If it does not, it means you have to repeat the previous step and keep the iron on for a little longer. Please be careful when touching the label as you can guess, it is now quite hot.

6. Wash you fabric and you are now set.

Essentially, what you have done is heated up the adhesive on the back of the label making it easier to manipulate. Drop us a comment if you have tried this and let us know how it worked out for you. You can also let us know if you have another method for getting rid of the pesky labels!