I have become more of a washer, with soap only. I used to LOVE the feel of my new fabrics, never wash before I cut. I have realized that at the factories, when a bolt is wound on the center cardboard, one side of the fold is slightly stretched. When you cut without washing, one half of your (i.e. 3" strip) will be straight, gradually going to off of the grain by the time you get to the other side, when opened up, to the 42" across the grain. Hope this makes sense. You can do a sample washing by taking 1 yard, carefully cut; wash it; dry it; then hold it up (before or after ironing) and line up the selvages. The fold hanging at the bottom (center) will look a little twisted; I usually have to realign the selvages to make the twist go away and now my cut edges are offset from 1" to 2". I worked in a fabric store and I could see the twist on yard dyed plaids. You would cut the yardage on the plaid woven lines (which would be a true cross grain) and the edges would be off as wound on the bold. This isn't true for printed on plaid designs. Now this all being said, I still don't wash everything! I know some better, but I don't always do better!