to wash or not to wash

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09-18-2011, 01:39 AM

#111

dljennings

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2010

Location: North Oxford MA

Posts: 943

all my fabric stops @ the washer on my way in the house.. i wash it all in hot & dry on cotton... if it bleeds after that i will use retayne, but never have any shrinkage after that..

also, i have allergies so i have to wash it all.. and i work for a trucking company & i know how dirty the dock is, and any fabric you buy from anyone, has been dlvd on a truck, therefore, must have been on a dock... that dust goes thru everything!

09-19-2011, 05:59 AM

#112

newBe

Junior Member

Join Date: Aug 2011

Posts: 155

Thanks very much for the detailed prewash instructions, which I will follow! :-D

09-19-2011, 02:28 PM

#113

daisydew

Member

Join Date: Jun 2011

Posts: 6

Hello from Calif and I don't pre wash. I think with this new fabric we don't have to do it so much now days. Do be careful of colors that bleed however as I know you already know.

09-20-2011, 04:26 AM

#114

happyred10

Member

Join Date: Apr 2011

Posts: 15

I agree with all the above! And sometimes some fabric will shrink & some won't, so you have a mess.

09-20-2011, 04:34 AM

#115

dunster

Power Poster

Join Date: Mar 2009

Location: Lake Elsinore, CA

Posts: 15,144

I pre-wash every piece of fabric when it comes in the house, and I wash the finished quilt as soon as the binding is on. The only exception is fabric destined for a OBW, and I have made one OBW from pre-washed fabric, so I'm re-thinking that position.

09-20-2011, 08:00 PM

#116

eej713

Member

Join Date: Jul 2011

Location: Sun City, AZ

Posts: 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohtoquilt

Hey y'all...

When you buy material for a quilt project do you wash it first or wait until it is finished project? I have heard it both ways and thought I would take a survey.

So the survey says :?:

Bev

I wash everything that I bring into my house and quite often wash the finished project also.....and am I glad I do. Just two weeks ago, I purchased fabric for my daughter's Christmas quilt. When I washed it (a maroon), all the dye washed out of it along the crease line, lines throughout the fabric, and left the entire fabric looking really faded. If I would have spent hours making those compass points (which was what that fabric was going to be for) I would have been thoroughly "ticked off" to say the least.

09-20-2011, 08:24 PM

#117

eej713

Member

Join Date: Jul 2011

Location: Sun City, AZ

Posts: 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearisgray

Some commercial/ready-made bias tapes and trims also shrink.

I was surprised to learn that a cotton/poly bias tape would shrink - but that would explain the "cupping" that occurs after something like a bib is washed that has been bound with bias tape.

One of the first things my Home Ec teacher, back in the early 80's taught us was to wash all bias tape and trims in boiling hot water (leave on the card) and let it dry to pre-shrink it. She is also the one that taught us to pre-wash all our fabric before we made our clothing from it....dry clean what can't be washed.

09-24-2011, 12:00 PM

#118

sewgarden

Super Member

Join Date: Jan 2011

Location: S. E. Queensland, Australia

Posts: 1,163

Yes I pre wash

09-24-2011, 12:05 PM

#119

Digitizingqueen

Senior Member

Join Date: Jul 2011

Location: Charlotte North Carolina

Posts: 491

it depends on what i am making, applique always - suspicious of bleed always with a dye catcher or old wash cloth then rewash with retain if it needs it...i like the way they look after the are quilted if they are not prewashed...