ManiacQuilter2

Be careful with any precut. I would put them in one of those nylons bags for washing hosiery.

gale

I've tried mesh bags but the threads actually went through the mesh and then tangled up and it was a huge mess. I thought I would have to cut up my bag!

I'm almost done. I think I almost have enough threads to make a whole quilt if I was into weaving. lol

Blackberry

I do the same thing.

Sewnoma

I'm really behind on my prewashing but I think it's the way to go. I don't have any reactions to chemicals in fabric now but I know that stuff can build up over time and make you BECOME sensitive to things, so I try to handle unwashed fabric as little as possible so hopefully I won't ever suffer that.

I use gentle cycle but I don't pre-sew or pink my edges. I did some experimenting and I think I lose about the same amount of fabric whether I "eat" it up pinking or pre-sewing or I let it fray off; and to me the work of snipping the frayed strings is about equal to the work of pre-sewing or pinking so I just toss it in as-is and use gentle cycle and that works out fine for me.

When I dry my fabric, I set my dryer to damp-dry (it has a setting for that, love it) and drape the fabric over a collapsible drying rack to finish drying. That keeps it pretty flat so I can just fold it a couple times and wrap it onto one of my comic book boards without doing any pressing. I save the pressing for when I'm about to cut the fabric.

Pudge

I put new fabric (smallest size is FQ) into the washer in warm water. I don't "cram" the fabric in, but I do load up the washer. I push the fabric around by hand - I don't use the agitator. I let the load sit for about 30 minutes, pushing it around a bit if I stop by the machine at any time. Then, I spin the water out and throw everything into the dryer and medium heat, take everything out as soon as the dryer stops, smooth, fold, and put everything into my stash. I never have problems with strings or tangling because I don't agitate the fabric. My goal is to remove the sizing from the fabrics before they are stored. It's the sizing that I fear could cause me to develop allergies.

Sewnoma

I like your idea, Pudge, about just sort of hand-agitating the fabric in the machine. I might try that next time...I certainly have plenty of unwashed fabric to test it on!

gale

Well I'm pretty much done. I have a giant ball of threads that is dwarfed by the amount of lint I got from the dryer screen. Funnily enough the fabric is taking more room now despite all the loss. I guess it fluffs up when it's washed. I won't bother ironing it. I may not even use some of it so I'm going to worry about it when I do use it.

All I have left are some backings and solids that may need to be used with my existing precuts and some fat quarter bundles I haven't even cracked open that I may not keep.

The good news is that I found fabrics I forgot I had-it's like Christmas! The bad news is that it will be nearly impossible to decide which fabrics to use. There's too many. (as if!)

cathyvv

I'm a pre-washer, too, and for similar reasons! But now I wash fabric as I use it or as I purchase it. However, I press it when I want to use it and not a second before.

M.I.Late

I pre-wash every piece of cotton I use. Get the shrinking done now, not after.

dreamboat

it would take me until the cows come home to wash all of my fabric. I probably have about 1000+ yards.