Having recently discovered the joy of bearding (no, not the type us guys can razor off), I did a little looking into the possibilities of eliminating said problem. What I discovered was that even the black batting I was considering still has the problem and the only real solution, given me by Leslee, was to possibly use a couple layers of flannel and avoid batting altogether. Grrr…

That said, I did find an interesting article on batting, and the problem, online:

http://www.masterstech-home.com/The_Sewing_Room/Articles/BattingFAQ.html

I hope you find this as enlightening as I did. It’s just that investing so much time into hand quilting, I’ve come to hate bearding and all it entails. I’d rather shave every day, and that’s saying a lot!

Do you think an electric shaver will work hmmmmmmmm :wink:

just a thought. i've never tried it ... a whisper thin layer of muslin or something similar? tulle, perhaps? that would probably be easier for hand quilting.

I had that happen with one. My solution at the time consisted of a Bic lighter and a lot of muttering. Read the batting packages - the resin coated ones really have licked the problem as far as mine go.

Thanks Steve, for the education on Batting. I had used W&N in the past. And it was very difficult to hand or machine Quilt. I thought it was me. I did'nt know there could be so many pbls with batting. So is their an answer for the perfect batting? Sometimes ignorance is bliss? But it's also nice to know that most MFG's stand behind their product. Which means for me to list the batting in the quilt making, that way if there is a oooppppps, then I'll know where to look first.

It's a rather old article, and there are MANY new batts since then. There are needlepunched poly battings that are less prone to bearding.

Warm and natural batting is much easier to quilt after you prewash it. It's still not as easy as polyester, but easier than it is right off the bolt/out of the bag. Cotton doesn't beard as much as poly.

Wool will beard, but the new commercial wool batts (since the time of that article) are being developed specifically to combat that problem. I am helping a friend with a locally-made wool batt, and it does beard. It's still WONDERFUL to quilt through. :-)

Using a good-quality cotton calico for your quilt top and backing will help prevent bearding. Poly fabrics will be much worse.

Steve, thanks for the link. I have not had any bearding problems. I use W&M, wool, and quilters dream. I just tried thermamore (spelling ?) It is thin and very warm. Batting seems to be my big problem...not knowing which to use in my quilts.