Bearding - is it true?
 

I am working on a quilt for myself. It is Bonnie Hunters "H is for Happy" I am doing the black and white 1 1/2" squares. I just realized that one of the whites is a poly cotton. Someone told me that poly cotton will beard. The fabric doesn't feel bad but when I ironed it I can smell it. Once it is finished I don't expect to iron it so the lower melting point will not be an issue but the bearding is a concern and are there any other things I should consider. I have only sewn about 3 strips so I can take it out. I would wash in cool water and some of my fabric is washed and some not. Thanks, I have just finished my first quilt - a throw about 49" by 65".

My opinion...since poly blends tend to be a more tightly woven fabric than typical quilting cottons, I don't think bearding will be an issue with those particular fabrics and as such, I would not worry.

Someone with better/more info will be along shortly with more info to be sure.

I have a throw on my sofa right now that the navy border is a poly/cotton (I got my navy fabrics switched with quilt & vest for son) and there is not bearding. I think the big difference with some cotton and some cotton/blend is that the poly blend will not shrink like a cotton--but if you've prewashed that is a non-starter too. I wouldn't worry about this.

I have only once experienced bearding and that was with good cotton fabric, but an old style poly batt.... I don't know its details but presume it didn't have a scrim. I have used poly cottons mixed with cottons and never had a bearding problem when using warm and Natural cotton batting.

The bearding problem is mostly attributed to using some poly fabrics for the backing, not on the quilt top. The needle seems to punch the batting thru the backing when quilting. I've had this happen when quilting with sheets that are more than 50% poly, and have used poly/cotton for piecing the top with no worries.

I am confused. Was Kelsie talking about the batting bearding through or the poly/cotton fabric bearding or pilling like, flannel does?

My first quilt in the1970s bearded. I used 100% fabric and the old Mountain Mist poly batting (no scrim). It was awful. I believe that the new poly batting with the scrim will be fine.

I doubt that you will have any trouble. If you use a batting that shrinks, the quilting itself will control any shrinkage issues. my opinion, of course.

I bought quite a few yards of fabric that came off a roll of a thousand yards. This was used to make draperies and bed spreads for motels. I used the fabric for the back of the quilt on my bed. It didn't take long for the fabric to "pill". It was covered in the little pills and they were hard. Many years later, I acquired a fabric shaver, used to take the pills off sweaters and such. I decided to try it on my quilt. What a wonder! All the pills are gone with just a once over and they have not returned.

I was asking about the batting bearding through and I didn't even think about pilling. I do have some other scraps in another quilt that I am working on that are also poly cotton. Do you worry about pilling on the pieced top? It didn't cross my mind.