Latrinka

I don't because I don't want to, and I also think it is an unneccessary chore. So far, so good with all my quilts, I do wash them when they're done, and use color catchers. The only time I wash fabrics before use is if they're given to me and smell musty.

weezie

Sometimes I do, but usually not ... it depends on the fabric, how it feels and whether I think the color(s) might run; usually, a small scrap of fabric wetted and laid on a paper towel to dry tells me if it is color fast. I always measure and wash flannel until it stops shrinking. Also, I totally miss the point of washing quilt fabric in hot water; washing completed quilts in hot water should be avoided IMO in the same way that washing woollens in hot water should be avoided (as the wool obviously will shrink).

shayarene

I am DANCING around my chair. I LOVE THIS POST Couldn't be happier to read this. :-) Someone gave me a small bag of quilt scraps, it smelled like a basement, so I tossed them in the washer like I read you were supposed to do with new fabrics anyway. OMG what a mess. Tiny pieces all frayed and knotted together, I done my best to untangle it all, tossed in dryer, came out the same way. I stood and pressed and used 2 cans of spray starch to try and get it to look good again. I was so discouraged and thought, if I have to go through this every time I make a quilt, I am doomed. LOL I too am lazy about washing and ironing. BUT how about Muslin? I want to cut squares to sew a crazy quilt on and also a strip quilt out of my men's ties, but I don't want to wash all that and press it before I cut my squares. I wash everything in cold water anyway, so will this be ok not to wash? I Want To Sew LOL Rachel

Geri B

Nilla....so much like me!!!!
I don't prewash, I don't use starch to stiffen the fab, nor do I use glue in the process, and I don't wash after completion...my sewing room is just as clean as any other room in my house....humanly acceptable...except.....no cats allowed in sewing room....so it's better. Fortunately those I have given quilts/items to do not have allergies.....donated things....who knows....and like Nilla, if it's for me/ house it goes into cedar chest in pillowcase. AND those quilts that are used on beds in house....scandalously washed once a year, then stored and others pulled out and used...

But, let me say, if I do suspect a bleeder in construction...i cut a small piece, but in a glass of boiling water..if it's going to bleed...happens instantly..if it does..I just get rid of it.....and substitute. Also, if and when I find something in a resale shop,garage sale or GW, that I do wash right away. If it's small, I will hand wash rather than put into washing machine....if it's fabric pieces..for sure get hand washed ......I think that's my only exception.

As an aside...doing laundry...when we were a family of four, I did laundry once a week - made sure all had enough personal items and enough towels, linens....then two of us, once every two weeks, now just me...I can go almost a month...I have enough towels, linens, undies, clothes to carry me that long.....and worse...I do not wash every washable item I have just purchased......none of family has ever had any strange outbreak or illness from my lackadaisical housekeeping........

I know I am not lazy and I'm sure those of you who have said you are, are really not!

Sewnoma

Funny, I don't generally starch after I pre-wash my yardage but it sounds like many of you do(?). I rarely rarely rarely use starch at all, usually only when dealing with pieces that are cut on a bias, and even then I usually only remember to starch after they've all been cut out!

I also don't iron my yardage after washing. I pull it from the dryer when it's still a bit damp (my dryer conveniently has a setting just for this) and let it hang to dry completely, then wrap it on comic book boards. That keeps it pretty flat. I usually have to kiss it with an iron before cutting, but just briefly, to get the fold lines out and maybe smooth some wrinkles near the selvedge..

I'm getting to the point where I DON'T like the feel of unwashed fabric, because I'm so used to handling pre-washed stuff. I feel like I can't tell what the hand of it is really like. I'm not going to be starching it once it's in a quilt, so I want to know what it feels like without any sizing/starch.

Good thing there's no quilt police, so none of us are doing it "wrong".

sbrown04

My thought is this: A lot of the fabric out there is made in China. Who knows what has crawled over it while it was in the belly of a ship for six months? Yep, I wash mine before I even take it in to the sewing room. That way, I know that it is clean and won't shrink. I don't press it until I am actually ready to cut it.

dee1245

I feel the same way. Also, my hands are extremely dry during the winter. The chemicals in the fabric adds to that malady, to the point of skin splitting. I use an unscented laundry product for washing the fabrics before working with them. Another reason to prewash is that I do not like the wrinkled looks of a vintage quilt. I know that cotton thread shrinks a bit creating the finished quilt a little bit of a crinkly look, but not as much as if none of the materials were pre washed. I love the look of a nice, smooth freshly made quilt.

SueSew

My grandmother used to say 'you'll eat a peck of dirt before you die' and I guess we all have to choose where that peck is coming from, whether it is dirty people handling fabric or bugs in the shipping container or using a public restroom or breathing the stinky air on a plane or visiting a hospital.......etc etc etc

And at my age I guess I should be thinking about whether I have gone over the limit!

honeybee_2000

I love the feel of new fabrics and I too am lazy when it comes to washing first..lol Just want to cut and sew and create..

Oklahoma Suzie

I buy a lot of precuts, so don't wash my yardage, so it is all the same.