Sewnoma

Interesting - you must have a more modern machine than I do. I haven't tested but mine seems to be same temp as the tap, and since it's right next to the water heater it comes out pretty darn toasty - I know it's hot enough to feel very unpleasant and make my hand red if I have to stick it in there! I don't think mine tests or regulates the hot temperature at all, it's just whatever comes out of the tap. (I don't have a manual anymore or I'd check; my machine is 15+ years old and beat to death...but still works!)

weezie

Thank you. If a quilt were made specifically for a bedridden individual or a child who is apt to have 'accidents' and/or drag the quilt around a lot, a hot water quilt bath would be a good idea and also would validate the need to pre-shrink.

bearisgray

In general, I am in favor of treating a finished quilt gently when washing it.

I just want it to be able to tolerate a hot wash.

Onebyone

If it is a quilt for hospitals, nursing homes, or the like the quilts are not washed separately from the linens or blankets. They are washed in hot water with strong detergent and dried in a hot dryer. I had a quilting friend gasp when I tossed my just finished hand appliqued, hand quilted quilt in the wash with Tide and color safe bleach on the hot setting. If it won't survive that first wash then why make it to begin with? A good quilt wash can be a humbling experience. After the first hot wash the quilts I use are not washed again until soiled.

RST

I no longer prewash my fabrics -- ever. And I don't pre-wash the all-cotton batting I use either.

I made my grandmother a quilt with lots of piecing and applique-- using a fabric line called Aviary by moda. Her nursing home staff threw it into the hot water wash on a weekly basis for over a year. After she died, my mom gave the quilt back to me; it was slightly faded from the original colors ( I still have scraps to compare) but the quilt was not distorted, shredded, shrunken, or mutilated. It's really quite impressive.

So, my take away is -- feel free to do whatever you want to your fabric and your finished quilts. Maybe you know something about the fabric that suggests that pre-treating is key. But honestly, for myself, I don't think it's important and it's not how I choose to use my crafting time.

Stitchnripper

I know there are several sides to the prewash/don't prewash question. I am of the same opinion as you. Of course, I don't have chemical sensitivities to dye and have not been affected by whatever is on or in the fabric to begin with. I do wash everything once it is done.

I'm pretty sure I won't change anybody's mind, but that's okay. To each his/her own.

weezie

Thanks for all the input. I 'get' the part about choosing to pre-wash or not; with me it's a sometimes thing ... mostly depends on the fabric and I test a small piece for color-fastness if I decide not to pre-wash. It was only the hot water washing that had me mystified. I very rarely wash anything at all in hot water and certainly not quilts I've made ... so, I wondered why people do.

Cybrarian

If I prewash, and I only do if I'm mixing fabric types (such as cotton and flannel), or I'm really concerned I might have a bleeder, I use whatever water temp I would normally use when washing it later.

QuiltnLady1

I wash hot and dry hot the batting, fabric and then the quilt. Learned my lesson when I gave a table runner to DD with out washing anything. DGS lost it at the table and the table runner did not survive the hot water wash to clean it up.

DD has a new washer with a sanitize setting and just had to wash a whole bed of linens and a bunch of clothes at that setting to clean up after a sick child and the I Spy duvet I made survived (and I think the water temp is hotter than normal hot).

cannyquilter

My washing machine is cold water fill so the machine heats the water to the temperature of the chosen programme.