Originally Posted by PrettyCurious
Do ya do it or not?
I do, cuz I prewash everything, new or 2nd hand, but I find FQ's don't seem to come out very square. It is cuz they're cheap? or do all FQs lose their shape?
If you wash and dry them loose, rather than in a lingerie bag, they lose their shape because they are so small. The warp and weft threads are relatively short, so there isn't enough length to "anchor" the weave.
They should be easy to re-true.
First make sure they were cut along the grain to start with. Pull a thread perpendicular to the selvedge on either side and trim anything that hangs over that straight thread line. Likewise, pull a warp thread from the edge parallel to the selvedge and make sure that the fabric is also true to that line.
Press lightly to get it to lay flat, then measure the diagonals. Take the corners of the shorter diagonal and give a GENTLE pull to shift the fabric back towards true. Emphasis on the gentle!
Measure the diagonals again and, if necessary, give another gentle pull to the shorter diagonal.
It is important to be gentle because it's better to have to pull three times in the same direction than it is to pull hard, have to correct that pull, then correct again. If you see what I mean.
Washing fabric in a lingerie bag helps to protect it from getting tangled around itself or around other items in the load, then getting pulled out of shape.