Originally Posted by fayedear
I am wondering if it is really necessary to wash your fabric before cutting it. It seems so limp after washing, and the wrinkles seem to want to stay.
Thanks for helping this newbie.
It's a personal choice.
I don't pre-wash. If I suspect a fabric might not be colorfast, I test a small piece in a glass of water to see if the water colors. If it doesn't color, I rub the wet fabric against a piece of white fabric to see if any color transfers. If it doesn't, the fabric is okay to use. I have never found excessive shrinking to be a problem with modern fabrics, especially when they are closely quilted.
If I were to pre-wash, I would starch the fabric before ironing and cutting. Pre-washing removes all the sizing from the fabric. Starching restores body and stability so the fabric is less likely to stretch out of shape with handling.
Harriet Hargrave once demonstrated that even flannel fabric does not need to be prewashed if you are machine quilting. She made a quilt completely out of unwashed flannels, machine quilted it (with lines maybe 2 inches apart), and then washed it. It came out beautifully! (However, I do personally always wash and dry flannels *twice* before starching and cutting, because I have seen flannel shrink incredibly. I have no way of knowing if my flannels are the same quality as HH's flannels, so I don't take chances with flannel! HH's point was that quilting through all of the layers stabilizes the fabric.)
Also, just to be sure there will be no bleeds, I always wash a new quilt in Synthrapol. Synthrapol suspends any unset dye particles in the wash water so they don't have a chance to settle in other fabrics. If I see any color in the first wash water, I will continue to wash the quilt in Synthrapol until the water is clear.