M.I.Late

I also just let it fray and just rip off the threads. When I wash fabric, I open it all the way up. I find that some manufacturers don't get it rolled on the bolt completely straight. So, I open it up completely, wash and dry it, refold it so there are no diagonal waves when held selvage to selvage, (I usually lose 1-2 inches here - but it has been as much as 3.) Then I trim it with the rotary cutter and iron it and it gets either used then or stashed for future use.

BrendaK

Ditto. I have had very expensive fabric fray and less expensive fabric not fray. Just go with the flow. It is going to do what it's going to do. There may be a fail proof way to stop the fraying but I don't know what it is. Of course there is a lot I don't know. If someone does I am sure they will tell us about it. BrendaK

Lori S

I do a zig zag stitch along the edges . It really does not take long ( no need for prescise sewing) and is worth the effort .
Before sergers became readily available thats how we "overcast" garment seams to prevent fraying.

EagarBeez

I just stitch the bottom, toss in one of those laundry bags and use gentle cycle on machine

bearisgray

I finally learned to either serge the raw edge or overcast the raw edge with a long, narrow zigzag stitch before washing.

I lose - at the most - about 1/8 inch of fabric when I zigzag the edges - none when I overcast if I remove the stitching.

Two other advantages: I can tell which fabrics have been washed - or not

It totally eliminates all those threads and wads and fabric loss.

valsma

Me to. I just let them fray. Clean it up later when I rip the fabric.

bearisgray

If one has a piece of $12.00 yard fabric - and lose 2 inches of it due to fraying (one inch from each end) - That's about $0.67 of fabric that was lost.

At $10.00/yard - That's only about $0.55 of fabric that is lost.

Doesn't make sense to me to waste fabric like that - especially when so many people are crying about the high cost of cotton fabrics.

MadQuilter

I have no trouble trimming the strings from frayed fabric edges. It is still faster than spending time edge-sewing a piece that will be cut off anyway. To me that's a waste of thread.

bearisgray

I got a few spools of super big serger thread "cheap" years ago.

To itch his own. (Depending on where the itch is, or course. :mrgreen: )

DogHouseMom

Yup. That's me to a T.

I've tried snipping the corner and noticed no difference at all.