What a waste of time. I am too busy sewing quilts for donation. Wasting water and electricity and my precious time washing a batting .

pro tip: use a high quality poly batting. no shrinkage whatsoever and no prewashing needed! I use Warm Company's poly batt and the Dream company makes a good poly batt and I'm certain there are other brands that I can't think of at the moment lol

This is what I do. I've never had problems and I usually use Warm and Natural.

In the "old" days when W&N still had a lot of roughage in the batt, it was recommended to prewash it to get all the oils out. It washed well in the gentle cycle. Now, I don't bother any longer. I hang it over the banister to get the wrinkles released and then use as is. I happen to really like the wrinkled look.

I spray water on the batting and put in dryer. Just enough wet heat to shrink the batting without having to wash it.

I've never washed any batting & never will. I love the crinkle look of a finished, washed quilt. I do hang my batting on my design wall for a few days to let the wrinkles fall out of it but I only do that if I think of it before hand. Otherwise, I just take it out of the bag & go with it as is.

I put my Warm and Natural in the washer in hot water but leave the lid up so the washer does not agitate. I let it soak for a while. Then I set it on spin only to drain off the water. I put it in the dryer and dry completely. Then it is ready to use. I think it softens it and makes it easier to hand quilt. I also preshrink my fabrics as well.

I have pre-washed Warm and Natural as well as other cotton battings many times. I soak for a few hours in the washer with warm water and little or no agitation. Instead of putting it in the dryer, I lay it out on the tile floor and let it air dry. The advantage to the tile floor is that I can line the flat batt along the grout lines to keep it square.

I am one who washes all cotton: batts and fabric - before using.

Wow, never even considered "washing" Warm and Natural. I have used it for... at least 10 years and never knew I was doing it wrong. Tee-Hee-Hee I am a believer of if it's not broken, don't fix it. So, after 10 years of no washing, I choose to merrily use unwashed W & N batting. :D

Funny you would interpret not washing batting as "wrong". There is no right or wrong. Just like some of us prefer to prewash our fabric and others don't. It all boils down to what works best for you and what look you want for a quilt and what preparation steps you are willing to take to achieve those goals. It is a matter of choice, not right and wrong and certainly not a waste of time.

Many show quilters (of which Sue Garman was one) don't want their show quilt to change in appearance in any way whatsoever with washing (or wetting the quilt down for blocking) so they preshrink the batting (along with all of their fabrics) by washing and drying it. She even mentions in her blog she doesn't do this with utility quilts. Not right, not wrong, just a different approach. I have never prewashed batting either but I may in the future, depending on the quilt and it's ultimate use.

Labeling a different way of doing something as "wrong" or a "waste of time" even if you interpret the way you are doing it as "wrong" (tongue in cheek), is the stuff quilt police are made of.