The worst advice I ever got was "don't wash your fabric first, it's a waste of time". This was at the very beginning of my quilting life and it didn't take long to build a stash and that's when I started getting headaches and feeling lethargic. Turns out I have a sensitivity to whatever chemical they put into fabric to keep it fresh from manufacturer to your home. (In talking with my friends at my guild, it turns out this is a common reaction to these chemicals, it jut turns out that many weren't relating it back to their unwashed fabric.) I took every single piece of fabric and began washing it all. After a few weeks, all my symptoms disappeared and I felt much, much better. Now, every single piece of fabric that comes into my home gets prewashed.
