For normal fabric, I prewash all my fabric before using along with my color sorted laundry. I pretty much always throw in a color catcher, I'm finding the ones I can buy at the Dollar store are just fine. Typically I'm doing a warm/cold wash cycle (my machine does not have options except for cold as rinse), and I like to use a lot of water, so I load on the lighter side of whatever fill level. That is, a small load I do on medium, etc. I use unscented detergent and we have good water here, so no softeners or other additives.
Between washing and drying the fabric, I cut off any strings or issues and give it a good snap! to help straighten the grain. You know/hear it when you do it.
I do not believe in dryer sheets for my fabric -- I can see/feel results when I'm working with them. So I dry on medium-high heat until almost dry. Pull out the fabric, give it another snap and lay out ready to be pressed. At that point I throw in a dryer sheet and finish drying the rest of the load.
Any time I have any concerns with fabric, either in weave or dye, or for the person/purpose used, a hot wash and dry can be a good thing. I hate to iron myself... but I can get over that. I'd rather spend a few extra minutes in the start of a project than to have all my work and effort fall apart in that first wash.