A couple of months ago, I did a test of several different white solids. I was finding Kona to fray terribly. This is what I wrote about them:
Comparison of 8 solid white quilting fabrics - I bought 8 different solid whites. Five of them, as well as two other solids not shown here, came from FQS (so 7 from FQS). They were all stacked and all had the jag in the edge (3rd picture). How does FQS cut fabric before packaging? 7 cuts would be 14 layers, so can't be with the usual ruler/cutter... - Pulled thread is what fabric looks like after a weft (selvage to selvage) thread is pulled. You cut the selvage off and start picking out a thread about an inch from the edge. Pulling thread is what the fabric looks like during that process. NOTE: When I was pulling a thread at 3/4" to an inch, I had already straightened that edge using the "normal" straightening technique that quilters use. - Some fabrics refused to have a thread pulled. The worst was Kona; the thread I was attempting to pull would just shred after less than an inch. I finally decided to do it with all fabrics, just for the fact that it is a LOT faster than trying to pull a thread. So I made a cut and tore it, then pressed that torn edge and lined it up. The torn edge then needs to be trimmed. This would have been done before pic 2 or the video. - Four fabrics felt quite similar: Bella Solids, Kona, Northcott Colorworks and American Made. One, Painter's Palette by Paintbrush Studios, felt a bit heavier. Not quite broadcloth, but approaching it. The other three - Art Gallery Fabrics Pure, Bella Silky White and Riley Blake Confetti were smoother - white Art Gallery Pure being the most so. - There were slight color variations. Kona was the absolute whitest, with AGF, Bella Silky and Riley Blake very close. All looked white by themselves, but next to the whitest, had almost a yellowish tint. Each fabric has 2 pictures and 1 video clip. My method was to straighten one edge using the normal quilter's method: Selvage to selvage and slide until the fold hangs straight. I then trimmed that edge and ruffled my thumb over it a few times before taking the 1st picture. This shows the raveling that happens even after we straighten fabric. The 2nd picture shows the amount the fabric was off after I got a true straight of grain by either pulling a thread or tearing as explained above. Remember, I had already used the usual method to get that straight edge on the other side! This is why we have so many loose threads even if we have straightened the edge before starting to cut our pieces. The 3rd item for each fabric is a short video clip of each fabric being ruffled again. (This ruffling is what I did before taking the 1st picture.) You can see that there is a lot less raveling going on! (I'm sorry, I can't get the Northcott Colorworks and Paintbrush Studios Painter's Palette videos to move up to the correct places, you will find them after the Riley Blake Confetti one.) Fabric width is listed below. First number includes selvage. Second number is actual usable width. Note that while the AFG Pure has a wide printed band, it is still wider than most and only narrower than Kona.) American Made 45" / 43-3/4" Art Gallery Fabrics Pure 45-3/4" / 44-1/4" Bella Silky White 44" / 43" Bella Solid Bleached White 43-3/4 / 42-1/2" Kona White 46" / 45" Northcott Colorworks 45" / 44" Paintbrush Studios Painter's Palette 45" / 43-1/2" Riley Blake Confetti 44-1/2" / 43-1/2"