Originally Posted by kathy
I love flannel but does it all pill? My husband has some shirts that do and some that don't and I don't know what makes the difference. I've been wanting to make a flannel quilt but can't stand the thought of it having those little balls all over it! :shock:
I don't think it has to pill. I bought several yards at JoAnn's last year and prewashed and dried it; no pilling at all. However, I think it may make a *huge* difference in what you wash and dry it with.
Years ago I bought tons of fleece and prewashed/dried it. All of it came out beautifully, no pilling. I made it up into jammies and guess what? The jammies pilled like crazy. I finally figured out that it was because I was washing them with the woven stuff (dishcloths, towels, etc.). Fleece rubbing against fleece doesn't pill. Fleece rubbing against woven fabrics pills like crazy. Not sure, but my suspicion is that the same thing may apply to flannel, especially since that JoAnn's flannel I washed came out with no pilling at all.
Althoug a quilt with a flannel backing would have woven fabrics on the front, my bet is that the flannel won't pill as long as you (1) wash the quilt alone, (2) don't allow it to agitate during the wash and rinse cycles if you are using a top-loading washing machine, and (3) dry it by itself. A front-loading washing machine would be fine because the fabrics aren't being rubbed back and forth against each other.
Just my thoughts on the topic......