Tangle Mess!
 

I'm a newbie and I learned that all fabric should be washed before cutting and sewing. Did that and my material came out a tangled mess. Had to get scissors and snip out tangles from one material to another. What should I have done? Any suggestions or is this a common problem?

Not that I know of. It is the nature of washing lots of smaller pieces together. Might put in mesh bags, but I've learned to live with it. Dont sheets and towels get tangled up in the wash?

On a recent thread, someone suggested using a pinking rotary cutter to stop all the tangling of thread from the other pieces. Anyone tried one?

I zigzag the raw edges of all my fabric before tossing it into the wash, using old crappy thread like Coats & Clark. Pinking shears work as well.

If you cut all raw edges with the pinking shears it won't be as bad. You won't have as much tangled mess to cut off and the fabric itself won't get wadded as tight. If I don't feel like using the pinking shears I just bring scissors and cut the mess off before I put it into the dryer.

Serging the cut ends also works.

Thanks but don't have a serger. I hand piece.

You could try putting like colors in an old pillow case and tying it closed. Wash them as you usually would, then put the whole thing in the dryer with a couple of tennis balls to keep it from settling in one place. The fabrics are not directly subjected to the agitation of the machine and usually come out with fewer frayed ends and less tangled. :)

People here will give you as many ways to avoid the tangles as there are days in the month. Try as many as you want and when you find one that works for you, stick with it. I have, even though I've never heard of anyone else doing what I do.

My method of choice is this. I prewash all fabrics, like colors together, on a gentle cycle in hot water, cold rinse. The fabrics do not tangle on gentle. I take each fabric out of the washer, one at a time, trim off any loose edge threads at that time and toss the fabric in the dryer, a very fast operation. I run the dryer about 20 minutes until they're just dry, take them out shortly after it stops, and fold them right away. Without loose threads, they do not tangle in the dryer. They don't get ironed until I'm ready to use them and they never get (or need) starch.

My fabrics never tie themselves in knots, are never deeply creased or wrinkled, and I don't waste my time with pinking or clipping or serging or pinning or zigzagging or sewing the edges together or any of the other suggested solutions you'll get. The added bonus is I get to save the thread trash for art quilt embellishment. :)

I always use my pinking rotary and trim the cut edges of the fabric - learned the hard way just like you. Also, if they are fat quarters on charms, I DON'T pink them but I do put them in a mesh bag (got them at walmart cheap) about 3-4 to a bag along with a color catcher in each bag and wash them in warm water with a cold rinse. They come out rather nicely. I don't pre-wash a kit, just too much trouble but I do make sure then to NOT was the backing for those so that they are all on the same shrink level. Hope this helps.