Do you wash your fabric before you cut and sew it?
#21
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 15,639
Wash - usually. Starch - generally not.
I have a "Why you should prewas fabrics" story. I made curtains for my sewing room - just basic rectangles and I lined them with muslin. All the fabric came from my stash. I was so proud of myself that the pattern lined up and everything, and then I washed them...... Well, the lining shrank at a different rate than the main fabric and suddenly my curtain looked like it wore a slip that was too long.
I have a "Why you should prewas fabrics" story. I made curtains for my sewing room - just basic rectangles and I lined them with muslin. All the fabric came from my stash. I was so proud of myself that the pattern lined up and everything, and then I washed them...... Well, the lining shrank at a different rate than the main fabric and suddenly my curtain looked like it wore a slip that was too long.
#23
I do for several reasons.
*Shrinkage. Even if its listed as pre-washed or its a batik that's been through so many dye baths and rinses (some quilters think that all the rinsing equals no shrinkage or bleeding and that definatly was not the case with a lot of my batiks and hand dyes).
*Excess dye. Lately a lot of the fabrics I've been using have had to have a Retayne bath to set in the dye. I put them in the wash with a Shout color catcher after rinsing and air drying just in case I didn't rinse it out enough after the Retayne bath (some of those fabrics shed a bit of extra dye during the bath).
*Its got this "new fabric feel" to it, but that's not how its going to be once the quilt is washed. So why not just start off with fabric that's already washed BEFORE you put it into the quilt? It gonna be washed anyways!
*You never really truely know where your fabric has been and fabric gets dirty. Think of all the people who handle the fabric before it reaches the store and then how many quilters feel it up before you buy it. On the more extreme side, there have been horror stories where someone bought fabric from a garage sale or something and later found th fabric had bugs in it. I buy a lot of things off eBay and definatly pre-wash just for the reason that I'm not entirely sure where its coming from or where its been. Particularly if I'm buying used band t-shirts for my quilt...it might be gently used, but for all I know it could of been previously worn by some sweaty guy at a concert. That thought makes me want to throw it in the wash.
In a nutshell, I'd just rather be safe than sorry and not possibly ruin a perfectly good quilt.
*Shrinkage. Even if its listed as pre-washed or its a batik that's been through so many dye baths and rinses (some quilters think that all the rinsing equals no shrinkage or bleeding and that definatly was not the case with a lot of my batiks and hand dyes).
*Excess dye. Lately a lot of the fabrics I've been using have had to have a Retayne bath to set in the dye. I put them in the wash with a Shout color catcher after rinsing and air drying just in case I didn't rinse it out enough after the Retayne bath (some of those fabrics shed a bit of extra dye during the bath).
*Its got this "new fabric feel" to it, but that's not how its going to be once the quilt is washed. So why not just start off with fabric that's already washed BEFORE you put it into the quilt? It gonna be washed anyways!
*You never really truely know where your fabric has been and fabric gets dirty. Think of all the people who handle the fabric before it reaches the store and then how many quilters feel it up before you buy it. On the more extreme side, there have been horror stories where someone bought fabric from a garage sale or something and later found th fabric had bugs in it. I buy a lot of things off eBay and definatly pre-wash just for the reason that I'm not entirely sure where its coming from or where its been. Particularly if I'm buying used band t-shirts for my quilt...it might be gently used, but for all I know it could of been previously worn by some sweaty guy at a concert. That thought makes me want to throw it in the wash.
In a nutshell, I'd just rather be safe than sorry and not possibly ruin a perfectly good quilt.
#25
I always pre-wash for many reasons: to remove the formaldehyde and other chemicals, to pre-shrink it, to get rid of loose dyes (runners are rewashed with Retayne), so it's ready for fusibles, and to tighten the weave. I never starch, ever.
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,341
I use to not wash first but then I was with my aunt once and she does wash first. Luckily she did on one of the fabrics she got from Wal Mart cause the print faded so bad in the middle she ended with a white streak there so now I wash first.
#28
Originally Posted by SWEETPEACHES
Normally I don't wash my fabric before or after. But I'm making a special order quilt for someone. What do you all do.
If you wash it, do you then starch it before cutting?
If you wash it, do you then starch it before cutting?
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Bosque County, Texas
Posts: 2,709
I RINSE it in HOT, HOT water to see if it bleeds and get any shrinkage taken care of, wring it out and hang it to dry to see how it wrinkles. Then iron, starch, cut and sew. If it doesn't wrinkle and the pattern is appropriate it may go into clothes not quilts.
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