Preshrinking flannel?
#1
Preshrinking flannel?
Hi, Friends,
I just finished a quilt top for some friends who just had a baby. I did prewash my flannel, but recently I heard someone say that you should really prewash flannel THREE TIMES. Am I in trouble????
Thanks,
A
I just finished a quilt top for some friends who just had a baby. I did prewash my flannel, but recently I heard someone say that you should really prewash flannel THREE TIMES. Am I in trouble????
Thanks,
A
#6
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 12,861
I always find this to be so funny....many people will insist you have to wash your flannel so many times its not even flannel any more. I've made so many quilts that I didn't pre-wash it at all= and years later they are still just as great as when they were new- if the flannel I buy is single sided, and a looser weave or thin I do *most of the time* pre-wash it===once. if I am using great, heavy, double sided flannel I generally do not pre-wash it unless it is a deeply saturated dyed flannel that might bleed. I do always launder my finished quilts- as soon as the binding is done last step to a completed quilt is laundering - I've never had any problems .... since shrinkage is dependent upon the whole quilt (top, batting, density of quilting along with backing) **sometimes people tend to over complicate things and create a lot more work for themselves then is ever necessary.
#7
Power Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 17,827
The multi-wash approach is to try to get all the shrinkage out of the way before using the fabric. Hot water wash and hot dryer.
You won't be "in trouble" ... your quilt just might get more of the crinkled old fashioned look when washed, than if the fabric had been washed more often before making your quilt. Too, keep in mind that most battings are going to shrink too, unless of course, you have pre-shrunk that.
You won't be "in trouble" ... your quilt just might get more of the crinkled old fashioned look when washed, than if the fabric had been washed more often before making your quilt. Too, keep in mind that most battings are going to shrink too, unless of course, you have pre-shrunk that.
#8
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
It depends on the batting and the quilting. Once the three layers are quilted sufficiently, batting controls shrinkage. Years ago I took a class with Harriet Hargrave. She had made a quilt out of unwashed flannel to prove to us that fabric shrinkage is really not a concern when you are doing moderate machine quilting. She measured the quilt before and after washing, and it shrank only the usual amount of the batting (Hobbs 80/20).
Where you can run into problems is if the unwashed flannel quilt is tied. Also, if quilting lines are far apart, it's possible for the flannel between the quilting lines to shrink enough to distort the quilt. Even then, though, it's usually possible to re-wet the quilt and block it, then add additional quilting lines.
Where you can run into problems is if the unwashed flannel quilt is tied. Also, if quilting lines are far apart, it's possible for the flannel between the quilting lines to shrink enough to distort the quilt. Even then, though, it's usually possible to re-wet the quilt and block it, then add additional quilting lines.
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