bearisgray

Not if one washes the pieces gently by hand.

It's a bit of a bother to do it, but can be done with little or no fraying. Can't guarantee no shrinkage, though.

pippa45

I never washed my fabrics, until a few weeks ago.
I had a red, and a black batiks, and decided to wet them and see what happened.
In just luke warm water, the dye ran every where from both of them.
Now I will wash all batiks before I use them.

maryb119

I treat my batiks with Retayne when I was them. It helps set the dye.

mojo11

I wash and dry each and every fabric. I've had surprises and don't want any more. ALWAYS PREWASH.

judy61

I prewash, and am glad I do, because my latest Moda Marbles (in green) keeps bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. It is going to go on a quilt with some white fabric, and I am still concerned about the bleeding, even after the prewashes.

Deb watkins

Since many of the quilts I make are for the NICU, I always pre-wash. And, I have found that there is a % of shrinkage, regardless of the quality of the fabric. Maybe not that much, but it is there. Washing and drying also brings the threads closer together, I like the softer feel. I don't iron after drying, just fold and iron as I need to when I am piecing and finishing.

craftyheart2

I always prewash everything - even scraps I am given. Even so I sometime find myself sneezing after working with fabric for hours but nowhere near as bad as if I work with non prewashed fabrics.

I do have a couple of jelly rolls and co-ordinating fabric not washed but I will probably work on those in smaller doses to reduce my exposure to chemicals.

brenda90159

I am new to quilting and I have decided that I will prewash except for some precuts just because I think I will feel better being safe than sorry.

SuzieQuilts

This former 4-H girl had a hard time not pre-washing for a long time. When sewing garments, I always do. For quilts, it just depends on the fabric, how much filler and the color, always with reds, and most batiks. Time and amount of fabric plays a factor. I never wash jelly rolls, or kits. As everything else, it should be up to the quilter, and what she prefers.

teddysmom

I've started pre-washing (except for kits--they don't give extra material to allow for shrinkage). I found the chemicals in the unwashed material was making my hands EXTREMELY dry.