Thread: UNwashed fabrics

You may not get as much of a crinkly look with a polyester batting. You can wash your fabric or not and when you use a cotton batt it will crinkle.

No, you don't need the cotton batting for the fabrics to shrink, but it would depend on how "crinkly" you want the top to be, if you want it pretty crinkling, then I would go for the cotton batting, but I've used poly batting and non washed cotton and been happy with the "crinkling".

My reason for prewashing is not only for shrinkage but also for bleeding of fabric. If you think it won't bleed that will be the one that does. All that hard work and having to work even harder for bleeds. Another reason that I believe bears repeating (and I have seen it happen) is health and cleaning issues. I live in a warm area down by the Gulf. So it gets hot and humid and people sweat profusely. One day while shopping for fabric in a big box store a woman came from the outside and was perspiring like it had been raining. She walked up to some fabric, wiped her head and face and the back of her neck. Another woman brought it to a clerks attention. They got a security guard to usher her out. She had no intention of purchasing that fabric. The clerk with instructions from the manager took the bolt of fabric back to the cutting table and cut a good 1 1/2 yds off the bolt. There was dirt on the fabric. Disgusting! That is why (even if you can't see it) I prewash. Ever hear of imbetigo (often called infantigo) easily passed and highly contagious. And other infectious diseases. Call me a fanatic if you want but do you really want to pass it onto the person you're making it for. And yes I wash my hands after sorting laundry and handling soiled laundry.

Originally Posted by tessagin

My reason for prewashing is not only for shrinkage but also for bleeding of fabric. If you think it won't bleed that will be the one that does. All that hard work and having to work even harder for bleeds. Another reason that I believe bears repeating (and I have seen it happen) is health and cleaning issues. I live in a warm area down by the Gulf. So it gets hot and humid and people sweat profusely. One day while shopping for fabric in a big box store a woman came from the outside and was perspiring like it had been raining. She walked up to some fabric, wiped her head and face and the back of her neck. Another woman brought it to a clerks attention. They got a security guard to usher her out. She had no intention of purchasing that fabric. The clerk with instructions from the manager took the bolt of fabric back to the cutting table and cut a good 1 1/2 yds off the bolt. There was dirt on the fabric. Disgusting! That is why (even if you can't see it) I prewash. Ever hear of imbetigo (often called infantigo) easily passed and highly contagious. And other infectious diseases. Call me a fanatic if you want but do you really want to pass it onto the person you're making it for. And yes I wash my hands after sorting laundry and handling soiled laundry.

I prewash everything. Quilters....me included....like to touch the fabric and you never know where their hands have been. My kids call me a germaphob but I sure feel better once new fabric has been washed.

different cottons shrink at different percents. This is one of the reasons I wash first. My main reason though is because this is how my dear Granny taught me, and she was an absolute expert.

I baste the short sides together on each cut of fabric, I don't use detergent, and put them through the rinse cycle once. Most shrinkage takes place in the hot dryer; the 'pounding' causes most of the shrinkage. Now I am confident that all the fabric has shrunk and won't pull away from the seams after it is all finished.

I have been washing the fabric as it comes into the house. I wash to see if there is dye bleeding. Another reason is to shrink the fabric and batting. I don't particularly like the crinkled look for quilts. It help stop some of the crinkling. Also, this past year my hands have cracked and peeled especially around the thumb nails. I'm thinking that there is some kind of chemical that I am sensitive to on the fabric.