Who says there's no reason to pre-wash?

.... then consider this ....

Before washing .... one metre of 60" cotton
After hot water wash/dry #1 ... one metre by 56"

With that much shrinkage, I thought I'd see what happened with a second wash/dry. No change in size.

That's one inch gone for every 15" ... hhmmm?


I bought the piece as a test for a OBW/SAW/4PP. It seemed to have a lot of fill in it and I was suspicious and wanted to know if I'd have cheesecloth or what? After the shrinkage, it's a nice tight cotton and yes, I'll probably buy the yardage.

Though if I'd sewn it and later washed .... not sure I'd be happy!


Of course, each to his/her own! :)

As a side bar ... I don't normally measure my fabric before washing. Just do it and know that all in my home have been abused and prepped!

I think some people like the wrinkling effect of the fabric shrinking. I haven't tried using unwashed fabric yet but I probably will just to see if I like it or not (but it will be for something I'm keeping for myself)

Harriet Hargrave doesn't pre-wash and that's good enough for me. Even if a quilt shrinks some after washing it'll still fit the bed.

I have always prewashed my fabric. Then I use a lot of starch. And my quilts still get that old quilt look when washed.

I thought I read in one of the stack & whack books - that you shouldn't wash the fabric before hand - I think the reason was that washing sometimes warped the fabric so it as harder to cut the stacks correctly.

Will have to reread that part of the book

I love the look of my quilts after it's been washed for the first time. (no pre-washing fabric)

I love the wrinkly and shrunk look I get from not prewashing. But I read in one of my new quilt books that the author gets a very wrinkly look by pre-washing the fabric and using 100% cotton batting. When it is washed and dried, it is very antique looking, she said. I may give it a try and see what kind of look I get.

You did. Once you wash a fabric the repeats won't be perfect anymore and it's very difficult to use it for any of the stacked repeat patterns.

It does say so ... when I did the course, I had prewashed before I knew so. I asked and the teacher said, no problem, just starch it up good. There is the risk of it stretching some, though in her view, the non-wash or starch lets the fabric slide better on top when you are stacking it. Plus it helps stabilize the bias cuts and minimize fraying.



Even if you do pre-wash, you will still get the wrinkles when you wash the quilt. The 80-20 Warm and Natural estimates about 2%. This fabric would have been 6.7% ... that's a lot more wrinkles.

As I said, whatever works for you ... works!