pre-wash? Pooey!
#51
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New Milford, CT
Posts: 501
I had a quilt that had a blue backing-washed it several time with no problem. Then one time is bled and turned the white to pale blue. Could never figure it out. Why after washing many times it suddenly bled. I use vinegar in my wash as a normal procedure as we have hard water and it helps the soap to come out as well as any orders and light stains. Worked for my grandmother and it works for me. Even showed my DDIL how to take the mustiness out of her towels.
#52
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Lowell, MA
Posts: 14,083
This is indeed an example of why people pre-wash fabrics. I've had a couple projects ruined because I didn't pre-wash, so now I almost always pre-wash 99% of the time. Because we don't have our own washer/dryer, unless I have a lot of fabric to wash, I will often "pre-wash" by dipping the fabric in slightly warm water. I've been surprised by which fabrics bled and which didn't, like one fabric with a black background didn't bleed at all, but a medium green background fabric had to be washed out 4 times before it stopped bleeding. I know it's more work to pre-wash, then iron, but I usually do several yards at a time with my ironing board set up so that I can watch my favorite programs - it makes the time go by a little faster.
#53
I am all for prewashing but have such a backlog in my fabric stash I am just prewashing as I pull fabrics for a project. Would love to get everything prewashed but it does take a big chunk of time to do this and don't know when that is ever going to happen.
#58
Those tangled edges mean one of two things... either it really cheap fabric or the cut was not perpendicular to the selvage.
I prewash everything in HOT water, dry it, then starch and cut. The one time something is going to bleed is the one time you really need for it not to. PITB to iron all that fabric? Sure... pain of having 200 hours into a quilt with darks bleeding into lights? Forever.
tim in san jose
I prewash everything in HOT water, dry it, then starch and cut. The one time something is going to bleed is the one time you really need for it not to. PITB to iron all that fabric? Sure... pain of having 200 hours into a quilt with darks bleeding into lights? Forever.
tim in san jose
#59
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,659
This is where one can use up some of that 'cheap/inferior' thread that one acquired 'before one knew better' - I do try to use a color lighter than the fabric that is being sewn on - just in case the thread may not have good manners
#60
DITTO! For a brief period of time, I did the wash, starch, & press routine, but whatever starched fabric I didn't use had to be re-washed. Whole process is a big PITA for me. For quilts I do with batiks, particularly pre-cuts, I baste an inexpensive muslin all around the edges of the completed top, covering all the seam allowances (to catch loose threads), then throw it in the washer with color catchers and that has worked well for me. It doesn't take long to baste the muslin on or to remove the basting. The muslin not only catches the loose threads, but gives me some idea of how much bleeding there is.
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09-04-2011 07:48 PM