Should I Prewash Heirloom 80/20 Batting?
 

I'm making a flannel quilt with a flannel back. I prewashed all the fabric. But, since it's flannel will it shrink some again if the whole quilt is washed? The package gives directions on how to prewash it. Says it can shrink up to 5 percent. If the top and backing were cotton, I would go ahead and prewash it.

So, any one with experience of washing a flannel quilt where all the fabric was prewashed before piecing, was there any noticeable shrinkage?

BTW, I went online to see where this batting was sold and Hobby Lobby has it. Regular price is $19.99 for Queen size. With my coupon of 40% off, total came to $12.90 after taxes. Good deal. It is on sale at Connecting Threads for $13.99 right now. Connecting Threads has it in black for $14.99. I have one more place to check around here for black batting for my Asian quilt (which now has an owner - oldest son). If they don't have it I will need to order while they have their sale prices.

I do not pre-wash any of the batting materials. However, I do know that flannel shrinks twice, and the second time it is a smaller percentage of shrinking. I am guessing that since you washed all your flannel once, it is now at the point where it is equal to the batting shrinking percentage of 5% or less.
(Sounds very scientific but I hope that makes sense).

My advice is no, do not preshrink the batting. It will shrink no more than 3% and give a nice softness and crinkled look to the flannel.

Once fabric is quilted to batting (in a moderate fashion, where no more than 3" or so in area is unquilted), the batting controls shrinkage. In other words, at that point the fabric cannot shrink so much that it pulls at the batting; the tension that the batting provides will keep the fabric from shrinking more than the batting shrinks.

If you absolutely do not like the crinkled look in a quilt, then you would need to preshrink the Hobbs 80/20. Honestly, though, I would not do that.

Edit: I once attended a workshop given by Harriet Hargrave. She brought with her a flannel quilt to prove that it is not necessary to prewash even flannel in order to control shrinkage. The quilt was made entirely of unwashed flannel fabric and quilted to Hobbs 80/20. She measured the quilt before and after washing, and it shrank exactly the amount of the batting (about 3%).

I think a lot of quilters do not realize that fabric shrinks differently when washed by itself as opposed to after having been quilted moderately to batting.

Thanks Earthlings! That sounds great. It also makes sense. I do know that next time I'm going to try using my serger for piecing! Boy, is this flannel ravelly!

Gosh Prism99 thanks so much for this info about the flannel. Very helpful.

I've never pre washed any batting. That seem like a big waste of time to me.

I don't use that kind. I do not prewash any batting. I'm afraid it might get ruined.

I pre-wash everything. I also measure before. But you know after purchasing yu should know the amount of yardage you bought. So just subtract 5% before you wash it and see if after washing it comes out to that figure. Not hard to do if you can't figure the 5% then figure 10% and half of that.

"Prewashing" batting, Jingle, isn't actually "washing."

Hobbs suggests putting it into a large capacity washer, fill with lukewarm or cool water, turn OFF the machine and let it sit about 15 minutes. DO NOT LET AGITATE, or then you likely will have a mess! Drain and spin out the water; again do not agitate.

The batting can then be "dried" in a dryer set at the "air only" setting to help remove wrinkles; then fluff it over the sofa (or a line if you're picky or lucky to have one) and go to bed over night. In the morning it'll be perfect for layering/basting/quilting.

With Hobbs battings I do this not so much for shrinkage, but because they are rolled and packaged so tightly that the wrinkles make them hard to layer for me.

Jan in VA