Originally Posted by sewmom
When I did a BOM last year, the kit I got each month was in small pieces and I asked about prewashing and the lady said with todays. Quality fabrics there is not much shrinkage. She also said that she's neveR had a problem. I wonder if it depends on dye lot, brand and the fact that some colors tend to bleed more just because ! I for one am usually to impatient to get started on my quilt to putz around and test every piece of fabric that comes in this house. There's a good chance that this decision could bite my in the butt someday!LOL
It's true that shrinkage is typically not a problem with quality fabrics today. However, factories still make mistakes or cut corners when it comes to rinsing excess dyes out of certain fabrics (usually very deep colors), and once in awhile they cut corners on the mordants (that set the dyes) so the dye isn't as permanent as it should be.
I'm comfortable not prewashing and using Synthrapol for a quilt's first wash. However, I will still cut off a few inches of a fabric and test it for colorfastness if I think it might bleed. All this requires is dropping it in a glass of water for a few hours to see if the water becomes tinted, and then rubbing the wet fabric against a piece of white fabric to make sure that the dye doesn't "crock". Simple tests like this can save a lot of grief.