To Prewash or not to prewash
#2
Pretty much I am a washer. I mainly want to take care of bleeding and shrinkage (if any), then secondly the 'dirt'.
BUT, I do a BOM at my LQS and receive enough fabric to do the one block, so washing is not in the cards. Yes, with the sizing still in, it is 'easier' to handle.
Another BUT, sizing/starch to the rescue. I now invest in Best Press.
BUT, I do a BOM at my LQS and receive enough fabric to do the one block, so washing is not in the cards. Yes, with the sizing still in, it is 'easier' to handle.
Another BUT, sizing/starch to the rescue. I now invest in Best Press.
#3
I, too, used to pre wash everything. I agree with you that non-prewashed fabrics are easier to work with; but I have gone back to pre washing as I am working with fabrics that fade. Now I just starch the pre washed fabrics well before cutting.
#4
This is a regular topic on the board, and you will find there are fanatics on both sides. Funny thing is, there are seldom people switching from the wash to the don't wash camp as you have; it's usually the other way around, when a non-washer has a problem with fabric bleeding after not washing. I wash everything, and the only time I feel there's a big difference in how the fabric feels is when it was too full of sizing to begin with. I use starch or sizing before cutting.
#6
I quit pre-washing years ago. Bleeding is a non issue. Any dye that's not set in the original will still not be set in whatever picks it up. It'll wash out of anything that picks it up. Shrinkage isn't an issue either since quilting stabilizes the fabric. The batting has more to do with shrinkaage than the fabric anyway.
#8
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Outer Space
Posts: 9,319
This is a regular topic on the board, and you will find there are fanatics on both sides. Funny thing is, there are seldom people switching from the wash to the don't wash camp as you have; it's usually the other way around, when a non-washer has a problem with fabric bleeding after not washing. I wash everything, and the only time I feel there's a big difference in how the fabric feels is when it was too full of sizing to begin with. I use starch or sizing before cutting.
#10
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4,688
I tend to waffle between washing and not washing. Cheaper fabric always gets washed with any other fabrics I plan to use in the quilt so I don't have randome shrink issues. I wash reds and blues as I have had issues -- and I wash all flannel since no two pieces seem to shrink the same. I starch and iron like crazy whether washed or no.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post