Originally Posted by
Maggiem
I have no allergies or other health reasons to prewash, and have very little time or desire to spend hours ironing. I find unwashed fabric cuts better, and colour catchers work well, so I do not prewash. Every quilt I make gets washed when it is finished, before it is given away.
I totally respect your thoughts on this, but even if you don't have allergies those chemicals can affect you and of course others in your house (including pets) just might have an adverse reaction to all those chemicals in the air.
And I am a pre-washer, but I don't iron all that fabric at once when it comes out of the dryer. (Oh man, what a terrible day that would be! lol) I just fold the fabric neatly and put it on the shelf. When I need some of that fabric, I cut off what I need, spritz it with some homemade starch and give it a nice press. All that crispness from when it was new comes right back. And to be honest, on the few pieces I have not prewashed (I once did a small quilt for a friend who loves that big puckered look that you get when you wash a quilt that had fabrics not prewashed), I still had to spritz and press that fabric to get out fold lines and even a few wrinkles from being on the bolt, so I didn't really save any time or effort there anyway.
All this to say, I respect both takes on this subject. But I do like to throw out some facts that maybe weren't thought about before and see if it makes a difference in someone else's life. Especially concerning the chemicals. But, to each his (or her) own!! Happy quilting!!
