Originally Posted by
Geri B
Did you wash in hot water and dry in hot dryer?
I pre-wash all my fabric and pre-soak batting when possible. Cold water, gentle cycle w/Tide Free, low heat. And then I repeat that twice when I finish. Every time the quilts crinkle because it isn't just heat that causes cotton fibers to react that way -- it's also water & the tumbling. I actually find that warm water & medium heat don't make any noticeable difference in shrinking. The reason I don't use heat on my quilts is because it damages the fibers, not because it is a huge factor in shrinking. Hot water & high heat will over stretch the cotton fibers and then cause them to curl back up on themselves but it's by no means the only cause of crinkling.