Originally Posted by Judie
I always wash my fabric before using it.. It comes from the car straight to the laundry room, after it's washed, dried and neatly folded it can go join the others waiting to be selected.
My question is how in the world do you wash 4 yards of 108" wide fabric? I don't want to cut it until I know [i]where[i/] it will need cut. I'm using it for a backing for a king sized quilt.
Do you machine dry that much? at home? or a commercial laundry with one of those huge dryers? How do you keep it from being one giant ball of wrinkles?
I use large safety pins to pin the selvage edges together AFTER I have accordian folded the piece into a comfortable size to handle. Pin through all the layers, about 2-3' apart. Wash, Shake it out holding on to the pinned edge, put in standard dryer, dry --I set mine for the extra cool-down option. Shake it out--it comes out smooth. I do not usually iron until I'm ready to use, and it often doesn't even need to be pressed. I did a 4 yard piece of 108" backing in my home washer --often add a bathtowel to help balance the load. This works for any size piece of fabric. No twists, and very few wrinkles.