When I buy fabric from ANYWHERE, it gets washed the minute it comes in the house. Then it gets put in the dryer and if I'm not using the fabric right away, it gets put into storage. When I am going to use it, I press the fabric and then use it for garments or quilts. Maybe it's because I sewed garments before sewing quilts, pre-washing was just the first step before making the garment. Before making the garment, the fabric is treated the way the finished garment is going to be cleaned,either by washing machine or dry cleaning. The reason why? So that when construction of the garment is done, when it is laundered, there would no nasty surprises. Nothing is worse,than spending all the time and the money for the fabric and making a great garment and then having it ruined after being cleaned. Trust me, you only do that once and you learn your lesson. Look at it this way, you learned a valuable lesson. Good Luck!