Have any of you read the latest Quilter's Home magazine.
There is an interesting article in it talking about pre-washing and it might convince those who don't to start.

The author mentioned working with shipping containers that come from anywhere and the fact that there generally is evidence of stowaways.....rats.

Many of you have read about washing the tops of canned goods with soap and water before opening it for the same reason...rats in warehouses. Same applies to all containers I'm afraid.

So if I didn't make it a habit of pre-washing I sure would change after reading that one.

:shock:

Unless your making it in your back room.. ya just never know and probibly don't want to, thats for a lot of things tho... Thanks for the info.

This is why I pre-wash all the time. Warehouses and ships are not as clean as people imagine (neither are some restaurant kitchens!).

Am washing washing washing

So true! I prewash because when I made garments all the time I washed first to make sure nothing was going to shrink.

I pre shrink my battings that are 80% cotton too. I have found that they will shrink about 6" in both directions.
D

I think I am going to be sick... ewwwww. Now I won't buy anything precut b/c I don't feel like those can be prewashed. you totally have a convert.

Sounds like one more good reason to wash.

Who would of thought...prewashing

I'm a pre-washer from the get go, but have never considered the fact about rats. :shock: OMG!!!! Hate rodents!!!! EWWWWWE! YUCK!!!!!

<shivers>

OK, I may be alone, but this doesn't bother me a bit. I never wanted to or thought I could protect myself from all dirt and germs. I don't mind a little bit of rat feces here and there. If I actually saw some, I would wash an individual piece of fabric, but I won't wash everything just in case. Still no prewashing for me.

But then again, a lady yelled at me just yesterday for giving my son back a toy that had hit the floor.

A toy hitting the floor is one thing, but rodent urine/feces carries many diseases that can make you real sick.

I know. A lot of things can make you really sick, including living in too sterile of an environment. I don't think it's a good idea to prewash just in case there's rat feces. I'm sure there's some rat feces in some of the food I've eaten, too, since I've eaten in a restaurant. My son's probably swallowed some dog poop, since I let him play in the dirt. I know he's swallowed some of his own. I just don't think it's the end of the world.

Thank you for that tid-bit on the battings, i never thought they wood shrink.

You have certainly made a believer out of me, especially after all the news about bed bugs again. Thanks for the tip.

Mattee,
You get my vote for common sense. Your son will grow up just fine. You cannot pretect yourself from exposure to everything that might be bad for you. You are better off to learn to live with it gradually, and build up some natural immunity. When I was working I rarely took off time for illness. When I retired the employer paid me for the maximum hours of banked sick time. I spent that money on the latest computerized sewing machine. I just don't do sick.

If the fabric looks clean, smells clean, that is good enough for me! I will continue to use my common sense. I can not prewash or scour everything. Just my HO! I don't like to prewash, harder to cut when you wash the sizing out, ravels, and I don't like the end results nearly as well. Afterall, I will wash it when completed. I run a pretty clean house as anyone who knows me will confirm, having said that, if we let everything we read dictate to us, gee we wouldn't have anytime to quilt or anything else. My friend is sending me an article on this type of thing. She said it makes you not want to bring any fabric into yr home. yikes, not sure I want to read it.

If we knew about how the food we eat was processed and what went into it, we would all probably be growing our own gardens and be a vegatarian only I guess.

I pre-wash now because of the bedbug problem-----and mice...hanta virus is NOT fun!

a girl after my own heart :thumbup:

On the germs...my African husband rarely gets sick, even here. The American born and raised family members get sick everytime we go there and even here. On rodent waste...your local fast food restaurants, proccesed food, meats, eggs, dairy, and produce (uh-that's most food, folks) are much more contaminated by animal waste. While there are good reasons for and against prewashing fabrics, this one carries no weight for me, since the potential for actually consuming rodent waste is clearly much higher from just eating grocery and fast foods. The E coli in foods that sicken and kill are most often from human waste, btw. If anything, worries about rodent waste and fabric should discourage us from snacking while quilting.