I prewash W&N all the time as I don't want the crinkly look. I fill a large plastic container/bucket/bowl with hot tap water and soak 5 or 10 minutes. Drain, pressing down on the wet batting to remove as much water as possible. Then I hold it up and squeeze it from the top down WITHOUT twisting. This get so much more water out. Put through my front loading machine on the Drain and Spin Cycle (13 minutes). Then into a hot or warm dryer for about 30 minutes. Comes out looking better than when I started. :-)