nstitches4u

I hate to pre wash fabric, but I do pre wash if the colors are very bright or dark colors like black and navy blue. I would hate to spend a lot of money for fabric and spend hours making a quilt and then have the colors bleed when it is washed.

johans

I have a book by Ricky Tims, and he advises prewashing. Are you ever going to wash the quilt? If not, no problem.

mississippiqltr

I always prewash fabrics for my quilts, just to safe guard against bleeding. If it something that doesn't require a lot washing I don't worry about it.

sunny42539

I do not pre-wash my fabric for quilts. I figure if it is quilted it will not shrink. I have been fortune so far, none have bled.

jcrow

I never prewash. Never have had a problem even with vibrant colors. I wash the quilt once the binding is on with Tide and run it through the dryer and it's always just perfect. If I had to prewash, I'd never quilt again.

TX GMimi

One of the best things on the suermarket shelves is the "Color Catcher" Just a little sheet kinda like a dryer sheet, but, is you thrown in the wash, all the colors attach to it and usually don't bleed on each other. I highly recommend these. Eliminates the pre-wash for me. Just have to remember to throw one in when you wash the quilt.

Wanabee Quiltin

Marti Michell says to cut off a snip of fabric, wet it thoroughly and lay it on a white paper towel. If it turns color, then you know you need to wash it. I also have tons of Kaffe's fabric and plan on checking it all out. I have had very expensive name brand fabric bleed horribly, washed the fabric at least 6 times before it stopped. I am so thankful that I did not use it in a quilt before washing. I think quilters are in two camps about this, do what you feel you need to do.

caspharm

I never prewash. I only wash after I am finished if I know it's going to be a use quilt. However, whether prewashing or not, I would recommend using Color Catchers or that other color wash. Retayne would be good as well.

I just washed a quilt I gave my son that has red in it and had run (he didn't wash it properly). I used a bleach alternative, several Color Catchers, and cold water wash. The quilt now looks whiter and the Color Catchers were very red.

JanetLovesSewing

I come from a day and age where fabric was pre-washed for bleeding as well as shrinkage. I always pre-wash. By the time I would take to do all the cute little tests to determine bleeding, the fabric could have been washed. It is worth the effort to me.

LynnVT

What's interesting here is that no one mentioned using Retayne in the wash. I sometimes do wash and use it, but hate ironing large amounts of fabric. If you don't iron, cotton is going to be all wrinkly, which I don't like. Years ago I bought a small mangle at a firehouse sale. Came from a local inn that used it for linens. It was great for fabric. Eventually it died, so I'm back to the iron. This board "requires" that all swaps be made of prewashed fabrics. Does this mean some folks ignore that? I'm about to make blocks for the batik swap and was thinking I should wash the pieces I intend to use for it.