cathyvv

I would pre-wash flannel, any flannel, no matter where you purchase it from. Most of my quilts go to children in foster care, so when I use flannel, I wash in hot water and dry in a hot dryer. I want to subject it to the worst possible conditions before I make the quilt. Why? There is no predicting the laundering habits of foster parents.

If you know the person you are making the quilt for, then my suggestion is still that you pre-wash flannel, but cold or warm water is fine, and dry on a medium setting.

Above all, have fun making the quilt!

NJ Quilter

Another dedicated pre-washer of everything here. But even if not, I would still prewash the flannel just to tighten up the weave. It will be more stable to cut that way, with or without starch (I'm also a starch lover/user).

Overall, most of your quilt shrinkage will come after it is complete and it washed due to the batting, typically, having the highest shrinkage rate of the whole sandwich.

I wash on a permanent press cycle with warm water/soap. Dry on a permanent press cycle as well. Just reduces the wrinkling a bit more.

betthequilter

Depending on the flannel they can shrink a lot .... do yourself a favor and wash before cutting. I always buy more than called for due to shrinkage. I couldn't believe how much one particular piece shrunk, and it wasn't cheap flannel. I purchased sit from the LQS. I always wash in cold water.

cindyb

Are you kidding me? This is beautiful - you are right, I would never attempt this with flannel.

feline fanatic

Alice PD, I prewash flannel in hot water and tumble dry in the dryer until just barely damp if I remember to check the dryer. But a lot of the time I forget and it ends up drying all the way. I use soap as I want to get all the nasty chemicals used to treat fabric for shipping (formaldehyde) and manufacture out of it. My goal is to subject the fabric to any treatments it might get as a completed quilt. Normally I wash in cold but I never know if the quilt is gifted how the recipient may launder it so I err on the side of caution. Plus I want as much shrinkage as possible the first go around.

bearisgray

I soak my fabrics in hot water - wash them in cool to warm water - and dry them until "dry" but not "cooked". It helps to fold the pieces as soon as they are dry.

Most of the fabrics turn out fairly smooth - but once in a while I get one that wrinkles a lot.

I also soak like colors together - so in case one of them is a bleeder or has excess dye - it won't do much damage. Dark greens with dark greens, etc. My aim is to be able to dump a wet dark green, blurgundy, (or any dark color) with white or pastels in the wash and the white or pastels will be the same color I take out.

Because I prefer the flat as possible look, I also wash the battings that are washable before using them. Read the packaging to see if theycan tolerate washing before using them. In my zeal, I have managed to turn what looked like batting into mush a couple of times. A real bother to get all that "stuff" out of the washer.

Warm and Natural washes up beautifully. I don't know how old mine is now, but that cream colored (with the flecks) warm and natural batting turns the water very yellow when soaked and washed.

I give my fabrics "room" to slosh in the washer and "room" to tumble freely in the dryer. I feel that it is the crowding/cramming of the fabric in the machines while washing and drying that makes a fabric look "used".

bearisgray

Occasionally intense colors have excess dye in them - that rubs off on to your hands - other fabric - the sewing machine - the cutting table -

ktbb

I agree with always pre-wash flannel (I don't prewash anything else but let's not get started on that conversation here). I also don't use starch - dry the flannel and pull it out of the dryer as soon as it's done (or even a few seconds earlier) and fold or hang it to reduce the number of creases in it (I don't like to iron large pieces of fabric and found that hanging it over a shower rod helps here)....and make sure you use at least half inch seams with flannel. About that lint in the lint trap - save it and stuff it inside empty cores from toilet paper and you have great fire starters for camping or the fireplace....and I've used the lint that was a pretty color in art quilts...the ultimate recycling!

bkay

I usually wet my W&N in the sink and dry in the dryer. I've never actually put it through the wash cycle, so I'm double checking here that you actually put in the washer (what cycle?) in the usual way you do laundry.

bkay

bearisgray

I have an older Maytag (circa 1990) washing machine that has manual controls. Top loading, suds saver model.

I fill the tub with hot water - as hot as it comes from the faucet, anyway - uncomfortable to linger in, but not hot enough to scald me - add a little bit of detergent - let the fabric get totally wet - turn the machine off - and let the batting set in the water - until i remember to come back to it.

Then I set it to a gentle, short cycle and let it do its thing. I rinse it twice. I have to reset it to do a second rinse.

I don't remember how much it shrank.

The roll of batting I have is probably around 20 years old (Yikes!) - so I do not know if it has changed since then.