Best Stabilizing Method for Tee Shirts?

[4angelbabies]

I've been experiencing a lot of puckering lately on my tee shirts. I use large embroidery designs, most with appliques on white cotton or cotton/poly blend tees for kids. I've been wetting the tees before embroidering and ironing on hot to reduce shrinkage during washing of the embroidered area.

These are the stabilizers I use on most tees:
No Show Mesh 1.8oz (hoop w/ shirt)
Soft Tear Away 1.5-2oz (hoop w/ shirt)
Iron on back with soft cover-a-stitch
Top with water soluble topper for some designs

I notice that the no-show mesh and cloud back seem to shrink when I wet or iron the shirt to remove some of the soluble topper, leaving an unpleasant result (this happens with several brands). My washed shirts also look terrible with the backings shrinking at different rates. Please provide advice on the best method to stabilize tee shirts for normal washings and use. Since my shirts are white, I don't want a visible backing from the front, which is why I use the no show mesh. They are for kids, and most parents wash and dry in warm to hot water creating some shrinkage for the cotton shirts or on the appliques.
Thank you in advance!!!

[ June 05, 2013, 12:03 PM: Message edited by: 4angelbabies ]

[Mama Kass]

Most of what we do is dry clean only, so hopefully someone else will be able to help, but I stopped using the no-show mesh because I was experiencing shrinkage just with ironing. So I'm not surprised that there are problems with washing. I have switched to hooping only Supersoft tearaway with a floated layer of regular tearaway if extra crispness is needed on large designs - but then I don't have the laundering issues.

[4angelbabies]

I also wanted to note that for the most part, my shirts look great after embroidering (no visible puckering or issues)...however the problems arise once I start cutting away the backing and ironing on the cloud (soft) back.
Does anyone also have tips for using cloud or soft backing for kids shirts? Do you notice issues with this creating puckers or shrinking?
I want my designs to look great even after washing many times.
My normal designs are around 12k-25k stitches in a 7x7 hoop.
Thank you!

[Rod or Sharon]

I do 12,000 stitch designs on T-shirts for a uniform school and use two layers of no-show mesh cross-hatched which the kids wear daily and wash and dry throughout the entire school year. We make sure the density of the design is as light as it can be and still have good coverage. We have never had an issue with puckering. I don't have to use Solvy on top because they seem to sew well with or without. I don't use any kind of backing ironed on afterward however. We use cotton/poly T-shirts of good quality. Have been doing them for 7 years with no issues.
Sharon

[MJ]

I always use iron on mesh for all my t-shirts, onesies, sweatshirts, etc. with no problems. When I adhere the stabilizer, I use a medium heat steamy iron. I also add a soft covering on the inside after embroidering and cutting away the excess and don't have any puckering.