Originally Posted by stewyscrewy
I dont see why folks have to Wash fabrics... Why cant you just rinse them under running water. All you are trying to do is get the sizing out of them. wether whole pieces or small ones rinse in the sink. JMHO
You don't have to wash them at all if you don't want to. There are a lot of people who like to use their fabric fresh off the bolt then wash the quilt after to shrink it up and get a nice antique look. I don't prefer that look myself, and when it gets to scraps it's nice to have everything prewashed so they wear and wash the same when in a quilt.
You also may want to prewash not only to remove sizing, but to remove any excess dye before putting that fabric in a quilt. Batik's are notorious bleeders...and better to discover how your fabric will react to a washing or detergent before you spent 900 hours putting it into a quilt. ;)