"2) I'm lazy (I will have to think of a better word for 'lazy') -" I think you are 'efficient'. You expend a small amount of effort instead of a larger amount after an accident.
I pre wash everything too. While I am concerned about bleeding, my biggest issue is shrinkage. I was amazed to find that every fabric I have prewashed (except batiks) shrinks WOF. I had been measuring the fabric before and after washing and was thinking that maybe I should stop because the purchased yardage was the same. 39" in, 39" out. I never measured WOF. I got a bargain and purchased about 8 yards of a high end fabric. I only needed a yard, so I cut that from the length and washed it. I wanted to see if the metallic had faded so I laid the laundered piece against the unwashed one. I was amazed that it had shrunk almost 3" WOF. After that I started measuring the before and after WOF. It all shrunk. If I'm going to be very careful about cutting and piecing, i don't want the final product to get distorted.