hazeljane, the mental picture of you banging them on the railing made me laugh. Yes, I have a Hepa filter on my vacuum. I have a really good furnace filter that we change frequently too. :) If I end up washing these, I will ask hubby to vacuum off the sides, so I get rid of most of the dust beforehand. I just wonder if they will continue to produce dust after I wash them, due to those pinked edges. Now that's something I hadn't thought of.

If it is affecting you this bad I would send them back.

Wow, you did have a reaction. Hope you are better now.

Personally, if it is this batch of fabric, notify the store and request a refund. I used to work in a fabric shop and sometimes an odor is not removed by washing. Since I am asthmatic and on a ton of meds, I would encourage you to always be on the conservative side when receiving/keeping merchandise. Lint, dust, mildew, molds, fragrances, etc. literally take my breath away and wear me out. Quilting is my hobby and my means to sanity. It can be done. Good luck!

I use the June Taylor cutting board to cut my strips and other shapes with 90 degree angles. My cuts are accurate and I don't have lint/dust problems.

Another brainstorm deals with having patterns cut by laser. I had a kit from John Flynn which was precut and didn't ravel. His daughter will give cost estimates for cutting your fabric for your choice of pattern. Just a another brainstorm :-)

i would be contacting the shop where they came from and asking for a refund...i have purchased tons of fabric on line over the years and NEVER have i received a package with dust-bunnies! that is soooo not acceptable! are they storing the fabric in a basement or garage or something? i received perfumed fabric one time...sent my hubby to the hospital in respitory distress from the reaction when i opened the package. when we returned from the hospital i was right on the phone...my money was refunded and i no longer do business with that shop. i don't know if they sprayed perfume to hide cigarette smoke or what but it was noxious! i would definitly be contacting them, washing the strips are such a pain, and they will probably shrink some or be wonky after. so, unless you just really want them i'd send them back. and i would wonder why they are sending out dusty fabrics

Precuts are not meant to be washed or dried before use. Maybe you could soak them VERY gently and hang the strips to dry. Otherwise you're losing precious fabric for sure
I've bought MANY precuts online, incl. jelly rolls - and I've never had one come with fuzz balls. They all shed some very fine lint from the pinking, but I've never had problems
Someone before said to vacuum them, sounds like a good idea - or maybe you should return them. Good Luck !! :)

I have had jelly rolls with lint also. I took the brush attachment on my vacuum and just kept going over them til they looked good. If there is an odor problem that is another issue. Sometimes the dyes used in the fabrics are so bad I get terrible headaches. Also, with the fabrics being made in other countries, they have to spray the shipment before it can come into the US. That is a horrible odor which sometimes won't ever come out. I had to return a garment the other day, after 3 washings it still smelled so bad I couldn't stand it. When the clerk to it out of the bag, she said, boy they really smell, I wonder if all of them are like that. I said, just give me my money back please, I don't want to have to smell them before I buy another pair.

Suzy

I have some physical limitations as well, and I have found that cutting strips on a cutting board with a rotary cutter IF I can manage to get everything at the correct height to use from a seated position is OK... And you would get much less lint and not have the distortion of prewashing the strips. Also, this may sound stupid, but it makes an incredible difference to have SHARP rotary blades. For ages I did not ever change them, then used a new one and was amazed and how much easier it was! I imagine the lint is partly from the fabric and partly from the environment that the cutting was done in...I like to have a ruler that spans the width of the fabric being cut, and then it is just zip zip zip. OR if all else fails, ask someone to help you with the cutting. Try not to give up your quilting. It is too much fun and VERY therapeutic!

If you have not unrolled the strips, i would vote for returning them, after contacting the store. Are you sure you bought them from a pet and smoke free shop? sometimes that is a big problem.
If you want strips cut, you can purchase an accu-quilt go with a 2 1/2" die and cut your own. If you purchase a fat quarter pack and wash and dry your fats, you will have the same fabrics as you would in a jelly roll. once they are pressed (and if you can starch them) run them through the accu-cut, or if that is not possible, ask to have them cut for you, or rotary cut them yourself. A fat quarter pack generally yields the equivalent of 2 jelly rolls, possibly 2 1/2. With a little creativity, these strips [which will be 2 1/2" x 22" rather than 2 1/2" x 40"] cam be worked into your patterns.
Hope this suggestion helps! Good luck...from a fellow allergy sufferer!