To pre-wash or not?
#41
Dang. I cringe at the thought of pre-washing all of my fabric, but y'all are making me feel guilty.
:-(
I like the stiff crispness that comes in the fabric for cutting and piecing. It was always such a pain to pre-wash yardage for my home ec class a bazillion years ago. Now I'm thinking I may need to spend my summer systematically going through my entire stash of fabric to prewash it.
Ugh
:-(
I like the stiff crispness that comes in the fabric for cutting and piecing. It was always such a pain to pre-wash yardage for my home ec class a bazillion years ago. Now I'm thinking I may need to spend my summer systematically going through my entire stash of fabric to prewash it.
Ugh
#42
#43
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 559
Here's a tip for those who do wash their fabric: Fan fold or wrap fold the fabric in 36" lengths or whatever you find easy and use safety pins in each corner and maybe more along the edges before you toss them in the washer or sink and long yardages won't tangle or be diffcult to smooth out or iron. Has saved me much frustration since I 've tried this. I tend to buy many yards when fabric is on sale for backing. I don't normally wash fabric before cuttong and piecing. Maybe, because I think it is an extra step. Now, I do... usuually wash a quilt before gifting it so I will not be embarrassed should something happen untoward. Especially the quilts for nursing home residents as these will posibly get harsher treatments than in my home.
#44
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
I understand prewashing for people who have allergies. However, prewashing involves more than 90 seconds to throw fabric into a washer and transfer to a dryer. Once washed, fabric requires ironing before it can be cut accurately. Plus, if you want the fabric to have the stability it has coming right off the bolt, prewashed fabric needs to be starched.
#46
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,107
You're right, pre-washed fabric requires pressing before it can be cut for a quilt,as does unwashed fabric.
Luckily, there are no rules in quilting except the individual ones we set for ourselves because they work for us.
Luckily, there are no rules in quilting except the individual ones we set for ourselves because they work for us.
#47
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Washington
Posts: 855
The Piece-o-Cake lady has some nice reasoning for pre-washing:
http://pieceocake.typepad.com/piece-o-cake-blog/2013/01/yes-you-really-do-need-to-wash-your-fabric.html
One point from the article is that when you wash the sizing out, it makes piecing easier because the fabric doesn't slide around. You don't have to pin as much. And I'm with her. I don't use any sizing on the fabric while piecing. I do sometimes starch before quilting because I find that over the course of a day or so the crease from ironing goes away and my borders start to flap around.
http://pieceocake.typepad.com/piece-o-cake-blog/2013/01/yes-you-really-do-need-to-wash-your-fabric.html
One point from the article is that when you wash the sizing out, it makes piecing easier because the fabric doesn't slide around. You don't have to pin as much. And I'm with her. I don't use any sizing on the fabric while piecing. I do sometimes starch before quilting because I find that over the course of a day or so the crease from ironing goes away and my borders start to flap around.
Last edited by TeresaA; 04-17-2014 at 08:47 PM.
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Traverse City, MI
Posts: 405
I don't prewash. I just finished a quilt for my daughter. Tested a piece of the red for fastness after it was done. Yep. It bled. Put 2 color catchers in the washing machine with it. Quilt came out beautiful. So I still won't prewash.
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: NH
Posts: 645
I pre-wash because my hands break out when I handle unwashed fabric. I have also had fabric shrink and bleed when used unwashed whether it came from the LQS or fabric store chain. Because of these experiences, I find it best to pre-wash. Just my decision...just my choice! Do what works for you.
#50
I don't pre-wash unless it's fabric that has been recycled.
Any "new" fabric i get will be starched and ironed anyway so it's not a lazy thing. It wouldn't be any more work to wash it before i starch and iron. I love the look when fabric is unwashed and then crinkles and shrinks. Now that i think of it, i could probably just starch it in the washer, spin it and iron them that way. Could even save a step???
Because i'm wetting it and applying heat, any bleed will begin to show right at the ironing stage. I've only ever had one fabric bleed enough that it worried me so i set it aside for a project with all dark fabrics.
Every time i buy something that is previously used i will wash it. I have no idea where it has been or what has been done to it. I worked in a thrift store years ago and people would literally donate bags of garbage. It was a terrible thing.
Any "new" fabric i get will be starched and ironed anyway so it's not a lazy thing. It wouldn't be any more work to wash it before i starch and iron. I love the look when fabric is unwashed and then crinkles and shrinks. Now that i think of it, i could probably just starch it in the washer, spin it and iron them that way. Could even save a step???
Because i'm wetting it and applying heat, any bleed will begin to show right at the ironing stage. I've only ever had one fabric bleed enough that it worried me so i set it aside for a project with all dark fabrics.
Every time i buy something that is previously used i will wash it. I have no idea where it has been or what has been done to it. I worked in a thrift store years ago and people would literally donate bags of garbage. It was a terrible thing.
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09-04-2011 07:48 PM