juliasb

I have always pre-washed in hot water and dried either by hanging on a line or in the dryer on a hot setting. I am insured to get the majority of loose colors and shrinkage doing this. Looks like the majority of us pre-wash pretty much the same way. On reds and dark greens, and blues I use a color catcher too.

Jingle

I wash all my fabrics in cold water - dry on low or regular.

If making mask I would wash in hot.

rjwilder

I wash all my fabrics in warm water on the gentle cycle and dry them in a hot dryer. I use Dreft detergent and no dryer sheet.

Dkm

Thanks everyone. I will be using your suggestions.

quiltingcandy

All of my fabric is washed on warm and dried on regular - and the masks are fine - but I find what has shrunk is the elastic. I use the 1/8th inch elastic and use 8 inches for the ones around the ears.

TAMARATJO

I wash in warm water and dry on medium heat, but I have been using fabric sheets in the dryer. I have seen some comments that dryer sheets or fabric softener (in the wash?) is not good. Why? If this somehow affects my fabric, I will stop, but would like to understand. Thanks

Iceblossom

The dryer sheets can put a coating on your fabric. I notice it most when I am pressing with steam, you can see beads of moisture form. I can also feel it. I don't mind it on my clothes, but I do on my fabric.

Although maybe they come out with less wrinkles using the sheets, they are harder for me to iron well. I hate the ironing part of my process and try to avoid it as much as possible -- but I'm a prewasher so I can't. I don't use starch but I press crisply, many people are surprised when they find out that yes, my fabric was prewashed.

This past year I've been trying wool dryer balls and I do believe they help quite a bit in a number of ways, both the amount of wrinkles and the amount of tangling together are less.

The hubby likes the "fresh" smell of dryer sheets, I have sensitivities to many scents but can handle original Bounce, prefer unscented. Some of the other brands/scents set me off sneezing. I use scentless detergent too.

edit: If I got back in time, this is an interesting article:
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/stop-usi...-dryer-sheets/

Onebyone

I wash in hot water and dry in hot heat. I also starch and iron before cutting. I take washed and dried large backing fabric to cleaners to be pressed.

TAMARATJO

Thanks Iceblossom, I also read the article in the link. I will discontinue using fabric sheets when drying my fabric!

Iceblossom

In some parts of the country, water is "hard", that refers to the amount of minerals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water

Alkalinity (pH) is another concern with water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH
For fibers especially, that's why archival quality storage is "acid free".

Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, we had wonderful abundant local water. My friends out in Kenai though had local well water that was high in acid/tannins. We have really nice water here around Seattle too, I try to be mindful of my use. But other areas do need additives or treatment suitable for use whether in drinking or in washing our fabric. Dryer sheets can be argued as completely unnecessary but not so the softeners or conditioners. Depending on the soap you use and the water you have, you might need to add something to the mix that I am fortunate enough not to deal with.