Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased 10 brands of fabric markers from Amazon to compare because even though many of these brands are heavily reviewed already, a good review doesn't mean much without anything to base the marker performance against. The brands I purchased are listed here in order of best to worst (in my opinion). You can see the performance of each brand in the attached photo. For the comparison, I used a black marker to write the brand name, then I chose random red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and a light flesh tone (if the set included one). In some instances, I added a few more marks with other colors. Below that, I used a blue color to write the number of colors in the set, and a gray, green, or brown marker to write the price of the set. The fabric is standard quilting cotton in white, pre-washed before writing on it. To set the ink, I used an iron on the highest heat (linen) setting, with a blank scrap of the same fabric between the iron and the sample fabric. The sample fabric was then hand-washed in cold water with All Free & Clear detergent. I chose hand-washing because I felt I could give it a more vigorous wash than in the washing machine. The sample fabric was then rinsed in cold water and rung out by hand as much as possible. I used my iron with the blank scrap of fabric layer again to completely dry the sample fabric. The main criteria I looked at for comparison were: Black Fade, Color Fade, Bleed, Color Variety, and Cost. Durability, or the amount of ink in the marker, is also important to me, but I won't know that information until I've had a chance to use the markers in actual projects. I received all 10 sets in this comparison in the last two days. #1-ARTEZA FABRIC MARKERS (This product page) This set of 30 markers performed the best overall. There is little discernable difference in the black or colors after washing. I paid $23.98 for this set, which comes out to .80 per marker. The only thing that I would like to see improved in this set is the bright colors--they aren't very bright at all. Many other sets have super bright highlighter/neon colors which I really like. #2--ZENA COLORS https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0721PY3M9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 20 markers performed almost identically to the Arteza set. The black and color fades slightly more than the Arteza's but barely so. I paid $12.97 for this set, which comes out to .65 per marker. This set includes the highlighter/neon colors, which stayed true even after washing. The ONLY reasons that I did not rank this set as the best are because the black faded more than the Arteza black and because Arteza has 10 more colors. #3--CRAFTS 4 ALL https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JM2QPL4/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 24 markers performed much like the Zena's, except the marker tips are fine point. I didn't care for this because the points kept snagging on the fabric fibers making it difficult to draw a smooth line. The amount of fading in both black and colors is minimal and the set includes highlighter/neon brights that stay true after washing. I paid $12.99 for this set, which comes out to .54 per marker. #4--CRAZY COLORS https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B081PC123C/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 40 dual-tip markers showed quite a bit of black fade, but little fade in the colors. The markers are a fat round barrel as opposed to most of the other brands thin round barrel. There are no highlighter/neon brights in this set. I paid $ 24.96 for this set, which comes out to .62 per marker. #5--AEN ART https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W5SBXRM/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 30 markers performed surprisingly well considering the cost. While there was significant fade in the black and most of the colors, the highlighter/neons showed little fade at all. There are several good highlighter neons in the set and for this reason, I will keep this set (and probably continue to purchase more sets). As for the other not so great markers in the set, I believe they will be useful as a first, or base, layer of color for other brand markers. I paid $11.99 for this set, which comes out to .40 per marker. #6--SHUTTLE ART https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R2JKQGQ/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 36 markers showed minimal fading after washing in both black and colors. The markers have a very fine point and would not be good for filling in large areas, however. I paid $13.99 for this set, which comes out to .39 per marker. #7--CREATIVE JOY https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HU4GUHK/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 12 dual-tip markers showed substantial fade in both black and colors and does not include any highlighter/brights. I paid $11.99 for this set, which comes out to $1.00 per marker. This one is really a terrible value. #8--CRAYOLA https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQU9QYC/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This set of 10 markers are the standard fat round Crayola markers we are all familiar with. I expected to like these, but they just did not perform well at all. They lay down a deep black and vibrant colors, but then fade 50% or more in the wash. I paid $7.48 for this set, which comes out to .75 per marker. #9--OHUHU https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H1B7YVN/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I expected to really like this set of 36 markers due to the many positive reviews it has. Sadly, these markers, (both black and colors), performed abysmally with a more than 50% fade in all colors. Except for the nice fabric storage bag the markers come in, there is literally nothing good I can say here. I paid $19.99 for this set, which comes out to .56 per marker. #10--MR. PEN https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0887W98GH/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mr. Pen here is quite the trickster. I was super excited when I tried these markers. The colors were nice and bold and the markers wrote so smoothly across the fabric, I was sure I would be keeping this set. It turns out that Mr. Pen is using disappearing ink! Ok, not really, but it might as well be disappearing ink. I paid $6.95 for this set, which comes out to .58 per marker. I hope this helps some of you choose a brand of fabric markers that have the qualities you are looking for. It helped me narrow down the brands that are suited to my needs. I will be keeping the Arteza, Zena, and AEN Art sets.