To Pre-Wash or not?
 

A topic discussed over and over... just received this interesting YouTube from "Just get it done quilts" where she makes three different quilts each with different pre-washed (or not) methods and shows the shrinkage and crinkle results.. Proof there's quite a difference depending on whether you pre-wash or not. I'm sure it would differ depending on various fabric, batting or thread choices, too.

No right or wrong here - just lots of options :)

https://youtu.be/7f0HCDygUeI

It would have been interesting if she would have also used washed and unwashed backings and battings.

That was interesting. Thanks, Christine!

That was interesting, Thank you! I will still pre-wash, but for me it's because the chemicals on the new fabric destroys my fingers.

Same for me, except my eyes and sinus are the problem.

I am a pre-washer; my mom always said why spend the time on something and then find out it looks awful after washing. So I prewash. Thanks mom!

One thing I do test for is bleeding on red fabrics or deep blues. Only then do I decide to pre wash. Unless it is a requirement for a swap or something specific. Other than that I stitch away!

I know I'm beginning to sound like a stuck record (which may be a totally foreign concept for very young people!), but I have had at least one bleeder from every color. Orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, teal, brown, black, and red.

Some of these were from what I would consider "better" lines/brands of fabric -

Thank you for sharing that informative video. She has some other great tips and tricks in other videos too.

I was turned off at the very beginning when she said that you need to either prewash all, or not at all. I do not prewash, unless required for a swap, and I don't do a lot of swaps. Still, those fabrics from swaps may be washed, and get used with my unwashed stash fabrics. In addition, I'm currently doing a Bonnie Hunter project that uses mens shirts. All were purchased at thrift or Goodwill stores, but some still had the tags on when I brought them home. Either way, they went into the washer on a sanitize cycle - super hot. They are mixed with shirting fabrics that are not prewashed. Bonnie has addressed this several times; she is given fabric, uses scraps, upcycled fabrics, etc. - so has a mix of washed and unwashed.

I have had only one fabric ever bleed (a red, of course), but it did wash out in a 2nd cycle. I've never used color catchers or anything else. I do like the crinkles (yes, crinklefication should be a word!), and the bit of puffiness that unwashed fabrics give me in my quilts.

I will say that I was impressed that she had the nerves to wash a flimsy! Even though the pieces were pretty large, I thought that might lead to a disaster. I once had a flimsy that DD's cat had used as a bed and was covered in fur; I struggled for years, literally, trying to decide what to do about it before I finally put it in the wash - and there was fraying of those seams.

My quilts are generally quite large, so if they shrink, meh. Interesting video, but not changing my mind, lol.