Batting
 

Some of you have indicated you shrink your batting before you use it in a quilt. How would you do this with Warm and Natural?

These are the instructions from the W&N site:
https://warmcompany.com/products/war...bs_productcare

I just open it up & scrunch it into a loose ball, put it in the laundry tub, get it wet, then press down on the batt while it's in the tub to get rid of as much water as I can. Then roll it in a towel, again to remove as much moisture that way. Then I put it the dryer. When you remove the wet batt from the tub, lift it from the bottom, don't grab a fold from the top. While drying, check the lint trap often and rearrange the bulk. Finally, I try and take it out when it is almost dry, and lay it on a bed, smoothing any wrinkles. In any case remove promptly from the dry and let it cool flat.

I bought a "Dream" brand batt--100% cotton--yesterday at my LQS. No prep necessary according to the package. Life is too short to wash a batt--sounds like a real hassle to me.

I can understand fluffing in the dryer but why would anyone have to wash it?

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Same here. by the time I get to that point, I'm done! (Well, almost.)

It's not that you have to wash it, but some people want to get the shrinkage out of the way before they put the batt in a quilt.

Some people don't like the puckered look that happens to a quilt when the batting shrinks. Sue Garman would preshrink all her battings, even polyester, which isn't supposed to have any shrinkage. Here is where she blogged about it and how she went about doing it.
http://suegarman.blogspot.com/2013/03/

The Warm and Natural batting I have is probably over 20 years old - don't remember when I bought it.

Anyway - I have a top loading washer. I fill it with hot water and a small amount of laundry detergent - put the batting in the water - let it agitate on "slow/gentle" for a few minutes until the batting is thoroughly wet - stop the washer and let it soak until the water cools down - then I drain it and let the rinse cycle do its thing.

Then I dry it in the dryer. It survives this treatment wonderfully.

I prefer the "flat as possible" look - so that's why I do this.

At the time I did this, I was not "into" measuring things before and after washing - so I am unable to tell you what the shrinkage was.

I do try to minimize the time that the batting is agitated.

Be sure to read the directions that come with your batting!!!!!! I almost dunked some Quilter's Dream batting - the directions that said not to were in very small print on the back side of the label.

For some battings, pre-shrinking improves ease of hand quilting. Fairfield cotton batting is one that benefits greatly from this treatment.

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.

I agree with jingle. By the time I washed all fabric and batting I'd be out of the mood to create anything.

I should have also said that this is the method I use when I specifically want a flat quilt. Most of the time I use it right off the roll. Depends on the look I'm going for. You certainly don't need to pre-shrink!

A friend of mine thought she needed to shrink her batting so she washed it. Wound up with a waded mess in her washing machine. DO NOT PREWASH !!

It depends on your batting -

As bearisgray mentioned, it depends on the batting. Some old fashioned cotton battings will fall apart when soaked in water because there is no permanent bonding material in it. Most of the newer battings are bonded in a way that they hold together when soaked. In general, even if a batting can be soaked, it should not be subjected to machine agitation — especially in a washing machine with a central agitator. Battings that can hold up to being soaked are generally fine with being spun out, though, and fine in a dryer. The caution is not so much to not prewash, but rather to not agitate.

I have always had "a suspicion" that many that receive "a donation quilt" may not have the most modern laundry facilities or be aware of "the best way" to wash a quilt.

Therefore, that is why I try to remove possible problems before an item leaves my custody. I think it would be sad for the recipient if a donated quilt fell apart or bled after/during the first washing.

The problem is that the cotton batting shrinks at a different percentage than the fabric so threads could break.

This is what I do too using hot water and letting it soak for awhile. I don't want a real crinkly look to my quilt.

Thanks for this idea. Will have to try that.

I use warm and natural all The time. Always preshrink I do not care for it to shrink 3-5%. I run warm water in the machine let it soak for 20-30 minutes spin it out in the washer and dry all the way. Works great

Hello, I have a question regarding types of batting, which one will stop being a magnet for well everything. Presently I am using cotton with a cotton top, but everything seems to stick to it. What am I doing wrong?

I take out the Warm and Natural from the plastic bag. I take the batting out and lay it out and spritz the batting with bottle and gently wipe it. Then I take 6 white wash clothes really wet and lightly squeezed. Throw the Warm and Natural in the dryer and put my 8 wool balls, the wash clothes and rearrange every thing in the dryer for about a 10 minutes, move everything all about and put it in the dryer again for for 60 minutes. It is fluffy and has been slightly smaller but it is great for me. I also wash all my fabric before I even start a quilt.

I found that if you wash the finished quilt on gentle and than dry it on low heat it will not pucker that much either
If it is good batting and quilted like it is supposed to be there is not too much shrinkage.