karensue

I have made quilts with flannel from Joann's and Hancocks, (can't afford $15+/yard from local quilt store, maybe some day).
I saw some really nice colors in Missouri Star catalog. They have some in charm packs. I always wash my flannels to get shrinkage out, but if I buy charmpacks you can’t wash those, so would the quilt shrink up big time whendone????????



As I have never seen woolie flannel, is it heavier than flannel or ??

thanks
karensue

osewme

I have always heard that you should not wash precuts...even flannel ones. I think someone on this board posted that. I don't know the answer to woolie flannel but here is what I found out about it:"Looks like wool, feels like wool, yet sews and washes like cotton with no scratchy wool itch. Woolies flannel is comfy-cozy perfection with classic designs like herringbones, plaids, tweeds & dots in a rich array of home-friendly colors."

PaperPrincess

I wash everything, including pre cuts. I swish them in the sink, or large bowl of hot-ish water with a few drops of clothing detergent. Rinse, then spin in a salad spinner. I usually just lay them out on the counter & let them dry.

QuiltingHaven

I, too, wash everything. Yes, some of it shrinks but when it comes in the house, it is washed. I put the items like charm packs in several (net bags, got at WalMart) bags and put them in the washing machine and when they come out, I lay them out on a sweater net stand till they dry completely. Yep, some companies' charms shrink and I have been now making my own charms from fabric that I have washed. I wash fat quarters and jelly rolls and hang them up on my laundry line and yep, most of them shrink but they don't shrink in the quilt. I open and shake my batting, spritz it with water and put 5 wet wash clothes in the dryer, and every ten minutes, I open the dryer and re-arrange every thing and do this for about 40 minutes. For the backing, I wash it and put it in the dryer for 30 minutes (re-arrange every 10 minutes) and then I hang it up in the basement on my clothes line. Yes, it takes time but I have had some fabric really, really leak their colors and at least they have been wet and washed at least one time (really red bad ones, I just keep washing them till there is only a tad of color in the water). I have only been quilting for 6 years after retiring so I am just learning all this as I go....THANK YOU for the Quilting Board!!!!!!!!!!

Bree123

Woolies flannel is 100% cotton. There are 2 camps as to how to work with cotton flannel (called "flannelette in places outside the US").
1) Pre-Wash & dry in warm/hot temps to cause the fibers to shrink up as much as possible, creating a dense fabric that doesn't really have anywhere to shrink because all the gaps have been filled in by shrinking in the laundry process with heat & agitation. The flannel-making process damages the cotton & exposing it to that much heat & agitation weakens the fibers further so this is not recommended for heirloom quilts, but it will produce a nice utility quilt that can endure harsh laundry conditions with little to no further shrinkage post-quilting. I use a Microtex needle to quilt such flannel because of it's density. It's a bit of a tough call because on occasion it does snap one of the fabric's fibers, but I find I usually have the best luck with it creating a nice stitch without visible holes around my thread.
2) Pre-wash/dry only in cold water with very limited agitation, line dry or tumble dry on low heat until mostly dry & then finish with a dry iron. This process will better preserve the integrity of the fabric, which is both a plus and a minus. On the downside, that means that the quilt may well shrink if it's later washed in warm water or dried on medium heat, requiring mending/restoration to be able to get it back to a decent condition. On the upside, though, you have stronger cotton fibers that will quilt beautifully with a thicker thread like a 28 or 40wt. I use a Quilting needle for that because the fiber is a looser weave so the slightly thicker needle isn't a problem & the rounded tip helps prevent the fabric's weak fibers from snapping. The other upside is that fabrics washed in cold water & dried on low heat are far less likely to bleed than those laundered in warm/hot temps. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but other than custom dyed flannels or some rare super saturated flannel solid, I find that modern fabrics in flannel don't cause me problems when washed in cold water (which is how quilts were safely washed for generations before electric washing machines were invented). If you are working with either of those 2 types of flannels, I'd definitely at least swish them around in the sink with a Color Catcher for 20 minutes and let them air dry.

If you are only working with commercial print flannels & no other fabrics, it's a risk, but you could always give it a try without any pre-laundering. Maybe make a small sampler like a throw pillow cover without any washing, lightly quilt & then wash it on cold in the gentlest cycle you have & maybe fluff a bit in the dryer before finishing it on a clothesline. I personally wash all my pre-cuts due to a severe allergy to sizing, so I haven't tried it myself, but I really don't find that when I wash cotton flannel in cold water & dry on low heat that it shrinks more than 1"/yd even when I stick with the cheapy stuff from JAF. If you give it a try, let us know how your experiment turns out!