Becoming a prewasher
 

In my quest to become a prewasher, I am spending my day going through my enormous stash, cutting 2.5" strips and then cutting my yardage into 3yd cuts and washing them. I can't even believe how much fabric I have!! I'm trying to get into the prewasher mode to keep from ruining the quilts I make. I wish that I had always done this because it is hard doing it now. I keep trying to wash like colors for piles that have 3yds or less. But that's tough with my rather eclectic stash and having to do repeated washings to clear out the dye! Long day ahead of me here.
Tanya

Why not wash it as you use it? That's what I'm going to do, because like you I never washed first and Ive had some fabrics shrink more than I wanted them to.

Prewashing fabrics
 

I have always prewashed my fabrics but I don't do it when I buy them - only when I am going to use them. I overlock the raw edges before washing, starching and ironing them. This way, I know which fabrics have been prewashed, and which haven't - and it prevents a real mess of tangled threads in the washing machine and on the fabric!

That had been my plan until I had some bleed and some shrink more than I wanted them to later. Plus, we will be moving to another base by the summer and if it's Stateside I will want it all washed by then because it will be stored in a crate and then shipped on a boat before we get it. It took 3 months for our stuff to get here. I can only get so much done per day anyway since we have shared washers and dryers here. I never used to prewash and I may go back to that after today-lol!

It is time well spent, in my opinion. When it comes time to use the fabric, you will be so glad that it is ready to go!

Dayle

My problem is that I never washed. Now I have so much and as I am planning new projects, I am wanting this fabric washed already. I may need to start washing as I buy and then I won't have so much to catch up on later.

When fabric comes home with me, it is all washed before it enters the stash!
That way I know anything I have is ready to go ... and if I'm wanting to start a project, I can, rather than needing to wash it.

What I don't understand, is ..... Why would you want to cut your longer lengths into 3 yd lengths?

It's mostly just because I haven't needed it in more than 3 yd lengths at present. It isn't all getting cut like that. Just when I have anything that is more than 6 yards. I cut a 3 yard chunk off of those. The stuff that is 6 yards or less is left as is. Plus I have friends that I trade with and it's usually 3 yard cuts that they trade.

While I appreciate your reasons ... For the sake of a little time to cut when you need it downsized, I would leave it all in one piece. It's disappointing when you don't have enough fabric for a project ... and even worse when you have enough, but it requires extra seams to get it back into one piece. Another example ... when you only need 2 yards of that three. Then when you only need 2 of the 2nd three yards, and have a yard left, you now have two one yard pieces ... that would be more usable as a two yard piece.

Yes, JIMHO! :)

I always washed everything I bought when I got it home. Somehow along the way I have stopped doing that, in favour of washing the colors I think might bleed. I normally cut a snip off the piece and put it in a glass of hot water and watch, then I decide if I need to wash.

I wash before it goes into my stash. If I had a stash like yours I'd just wash as I used it. If it is going to be boxed up and shiped I wouldn't worry about washing untill It arrived, after being stored who knows where, under who knows what conditions I might want to wash it again before using it. LOL

Everything in my stash has been washed in hot water and dried in a hot drier. I add a little note to my quilts that says "Wash any temp, Dry any temp". I am hoping my gifts get used, I'm not going for heirlooms so if the fabric fades a bit with this treatment that is okay with me. :-)

All fabric purchased goes straight to the laundry room shelves. The lights get washed pretty quickly because I just wash those along with a load of whites that get washed/dried in hot. The other colors may sit on the shelves a while until I get enough for a load of a certain color.

Then I wash the finished quilt in warm water with color catchers just to be sure they won't bleed when the recipient washes them.

When I get ready to make a quilt. I wash all the material (always using 2 or 3 color catchers) lights together and then the darks in warm water. Dry them on medium for 10 minutes and hang them up forcing any wrinkles out that might occur. When still a tad damp, I iron them using spray starch and hang them on a old fashion wooden rack or the clothes line. Fold them up when all are done and put them in a project box with the threads, any additional tools that I need and the pattern. Then, I am ready to work. I usually do this about a week before I am ready to start cutting. Hope this helps.

A quick tip. When you wash yardage take a snip off one corner. Then when you pull out a piece of fabric, you will know for sure if you prewashed it.

This will also help if you do not get all your fabric washed before you have to pack it up.

I began prewashing fabric as a carry over from my clothing construction days. Disappointing to sew something that doesn't fit after it's been washed. And I still do, but I wash on a quick cycles--could save you some time. I don't feel washing for longer period of time is going to benefit and the heat in the dryer will take care of the shrinking.

QE what's your opinion?

I'd probably want to wash after it was shipped and in storage to freshen it up. Plus, you're going through your stash to wash, fold and put away. Then you'll have to go through it again to pack and again to unpack. Why not wash as you're unpacking. Just my two cents worth.

This makes sense to me.

Great idea!!

I always wash it as soon as it comes home. I want it to be ready when I have a brain farkle and want to make it right then!!!

I used to wash all the time and now just wash batiks and darker colors, especially reds. I find my cutting is more accurate when I don't.

I tend to wash my batiks, just to make sure they don't run...but then I have to pre-wash any other fabric that I put with them so the quilt will shrink uniformly...then I end up with some pre-washed and some not...
I take a paper punch, (the thing that punches a hole) and put holes up and down the selvage of what I wash..that way I can keep it all straight...otherwise I'd be washing some 3 times and other not all!

Same practice here, and it works really well for me!

Oh ... you already know OKSGlad :D, that I am a confirmed hot water, hot dryer fabric abuser!
And ... now commited to Colour Catchers as a check for any bleeding.
If so, then re-wash and/or retayne treatments!

Gets it all sorted out in the pre-sewing stage ... and avoid disappointment later.
I sure as heck don't want to do all that work and have my quilt end up a new colour and/or stained from bleeds!

That is my way of "washing" fabric too!!!!!!!why waste all that water and electricity, not to mention gas, if your dryer is that......my rule: I only "wash" dirty clothes, things.........

Why not wait to wash your fabrics until after your move. If the fabric will be stored in a crate for months on a ship,it will probably be at the least musty smelling, so after you are settled in at your new home, then wash. Otherwise, if you wash everything now, you will have to do it again after the move.Just my thought. Good luck on your move!

Personally ladies I salute you. I tried pre washing for a while and then color catchers came and I fell in love. If I had to pre wash I would never quilt again. I'm serious. As much as I love my quilting I would not go through that much work and end up with fabric that is not as nice. All the nice sizing is washed out, if you starch you draw bugs. That said, I only buy really good fabric. If you stick to the good brands Moda, Hoffman, Marcus Bros, etc, you won't get the shrinkage and the color catchers are super - I use 5-6 in a new quilt wash. I've not had a run or mismatched shrinkage.
That said if you are not comfortable with not washing, then do what you have to do to feel comfortable. I'd just rather sew than wash.

I usually wash as I need it, but I really like OP's idea of washing right when it comes home. I think I may start doing that so when I want to do a new project I only have to starch what I need.

I prefer washing my fabrics before using them, and not just the darker fabrics. We live in an apartment now, so I can't just go down to the basement to throw the fabric in the washer and dryer, so many times I wash the fabric in the sink. I am amazed when some of the lighter fabrics bleed and some of the darker fabrics don't, and then I'm very glad I have washed it - especially since many of the items I make are made to be sold or as gifts, and I would hate to have something I made come back with a dissatisfied customer. Not good PR. I cut the corners of the fabric with a small triangular cut, which not only lets me know if a fabric is washed or not, but it cuts down on the fraying when the fabric is washed - a tip I picked up somewhere along the line.

if the fabric i buy is stiff and or overly wrinkled or of a low quality cotton i will serge the cut ends of the yardage and put the piece through a quick wash and rinse then hang on clothesline or dryer rack to dry to the barely damp stage. then i use a dry iron and press. also if it is a color i am afraid of bleeding i will also use one of those color magnet thingies in the wash water-they work great!

I have washed sometimes and not other times. I got a load, I mean LOAD of fabric about 10 or so years ago, from someone who didn't want it anymore. (I never met the person, the fabric came through a third party.) I could tell which were washed as the ends were terribly frayed. She must have washed with an agitator washer for 15 minutes.LOL
Sometimes I wash and sometimes I don't, and have never noticed the difference in the finished quilts. My thought is: this fabric has a nice sizing on it which makes it very easy to cut with our rotary cutter and is easy to sew because it is a little stiff. Then we wash it and it gets limp, so we have to starch it so it is easier to cut and sew. ? ? ? Does that make sense?

Thanks for all of the advice! I really hate the washing, but I am trying to be better about it ahead of time. It does make sense to wait until I move, but that's at least 6 months from now. And I am sure that I will be making quilts right up until the packers come. So I won't know what fabrics I will want to use until a new project comes up. So if I wash ahead of time, I can just pull and cut what I need w/o having to wash it before starting that project. That gives me enough of a reason to wash them when I get a free chance. I am hoping to work on quite a few projects before the summer move. So I may use up quite a bit of fabric, especially since I am going to TRY to not buy anymore, just shop in my stash. So I'm happy I washed a lot of it. Love the Color Catchers, too. It's a shame they don't come in boxes of 100 or more!
Tanya

I noticed that you said you cut 2.5" strips, 3 yard pieces, and then wash.

Personally, I would not wash strips. They won't be 2.5" afterward, from both shrinkage and raveling.

I always wash when I buy and then iron it before I use it.

have a friend that has a basement FULL of unwashed fabric. She has made over 100 quilts. NEVER washed a lick. I asked her why. She said she was always too excited to use it and when it all goes to her family later on , as quilts, it's every man for themselves. I hate to see what some of those beautiful quilts will come out looking like after washed years from now!

I don't wash until I need it, and I agree that I would not cut into a 6 yard piece. That would be the very piece I needed to use as a whole unit.

When moving back to the states a few years ago I mailed out my cheap sewing machine with a few different boxes with various projects to the post office on base because we did not know where we would officially stay. I arrived in town and went to the base to retrieve my goods. Really no down time in sewing. I feared it would take months for our stuff to get from Spangdahlem to Oklahoma City.

I wasn't washing the strips at all. I know better than to do that! I really didn't explain myself well in the original post. But I was mostly cutting down for my trading group and then washing what was left. I had to cut some down from the 10-12 yard pieces just to fit in the smaller washing machines we have in the basement. The 3 yard cuts were mostly for trading and I didn't was those, they went into a separate pile.

I have always washed all fabrics before they get to join the stash. And I LOVE color catchers. I have learned to trust them to the extent that I can wash my DH's best white shirt with new red or black fabric and not worry when there's a color catcher in the load. Color Catchers are one product that has truly changed my life. (No, I have no financial or other connection with them. I just love them.)

I use to wash all fabric before it entered my sewing room but when I bought charm packs and other precuts I didn't wash them. I do a lot of wall hangings that don't get washed so now I am not washing anything. It seems I can't find a happy medium!

I used to prewash as soon as I got it home. Then I started joining swaps that wanted unwashed fabric so I would have to go buy more. Now I don't prewash unless I think it will fade.