I prewash Warm and Natural batting but I have a top loading washer so I can soak it. If it's going to shrink I wnat it to shrink before I hand quilt it.

I always soak W & N, spin the water off and machine dry because I don't want so much shrinkage when the quilt is washed. Can you trick your machine by letting it fill on one of the cycles with the batting inside, turn it off and maybe squeeze the water around a bit with your hands, then turn it back on to a spin cycle? Something like that? I would be very concerned about letting it agitate at all as it would likely tear. Good luck!

I am in the middle of quilting a very large quilt for my son for Fathers Day. I did not wash anything before hand, but for the first time I am going to wash it after it is done. I do like the crinkle look and I want to make sure it will survive my grandkids and their mother.....

This is also what I do and it has been working fine for years and years.

I have only prewashed batting for wallhangings. Place in washer, fill with cold water, drain, spin, put in dryer for air dry and then delicate heat for final dry and shrinkage. Really, most of the shrinkage is in the dryer.

I prewash it all...and then hang to dry...the batting is amazing when it is washed and line dried...

chemicals are in everything...I prefer to keep them out of my house/studio when at all possible...

Never
Have a Blessed day
Ellen

Nope.

no need

Ditto, and I love the antique look of a new freshly washed quilt.

I agree with you! I don't ever wash anything until the quilt is completed and then it all kind of melds together...

I have washed all kinds of batting in my front loader washer. I most always pre-wash my fabric. I don't want my quilts to have the puckery look especially table toppers, table runners and placemats. When I dry batting and fabric, I don't let it get completely dry and press the fabric and lay the batting on my bed and smooth it out to dry. I've never had a problem and never have to worry about colors running or I use a color catcher.

Thank all of you for your replies. I cannot trick my washer into anything, the door locks as soon as the water starts. And you cannot open the door of a front loader when there is water in there.
The NO's are 2 to 1 over the YES's so I think I will not worry but I like the idea of laying it out of the bed for a while.

i always prewash if i'm making a childrens quilt

No, I have never prewashed. I have on occasion put it in the dryer with a damp towel to release some of the wrinkles.

No to prewashing Warm and Natural batting. Never have - never will.

I only prewash all my fabrics, nothing else.

Ditto :)

no I don't prewash anything Iv never had any problems with batting or fabric

Never thought of pre-washing the batting!

Why do you need to open the door of your washer before it is finished when washing the batting? I usually just use cool water and no soap in a short cycle to wet the batting or fabric. That way it works for me and no problems.

yes ,always.

i prewashed warm and white on my last quilt i made because even tho warm and white only shrinks 3% i didnt want it to shrink at all the key to washing it so it doesnt fall apart is DO NOT let it agitate in the washer, i just filled machine with warm water let it soak for a while then skipped the agitate let it rinse and spin , put it in the dryer and dried it then used it in what i was making

I do not prewash my batting either. I like to wash the finished quilt and batting all at one time.

I don't pre-wash batting as I like the "crumpled" look for baby quilts. But I always pre-wash the fabric. :lol:

I think there are directions right on the package. Don't use soap or detergent. I prewash mine by putting it on a rinse cycle using cold water. I stand right by the machine while it fills, and stop it before it starts agitating. I think you said you have a front fill, so that would be an issue. Spinning the water out is not a problem. Then I just dry it in the dryer. I've never had a problem. Be prepared for at least 3% shrinkage.

I have always used my front loader machine on delicate cycle so it doesn't have to be in the washer too long but it always comes out beautiful, soft and wrinkle free. I have also washed the bamboo-cotton batting the same way.

Once I used a wool batt and it was like butter to hand quilt. It was a twin size. I hand washed it in the bathtub and laid flat in the yard to dry. It came out perfect. It was given to my son and his wife with the instructions that you can't wash it in the washing machine only hand wash. They took it to the cleaners instead and told them it couldn't be washed. However, they washed it and it was now shrunken down to crib size. They collected a $100 or so from the cleaner and just tossed it in the toy box and used it when someone needed a coverup. However I awoke one night and thought the only thing wrong with that quilt was the batt so I unsewed everyone of my hand stitches. I added another border and put the whole thing together again. They love it and they can wash it with the new poly batt.

Same here. I never pre-wash batting. Sometimes I pre-wash fabric, but not always. Depends if I am using pre-cuts, or if the fabric was cut close..I don't want to run short because of fraying.

Wow!! Never heard of this problem with a washable wool batting!!

It was quite a few years ago, maybe at that time they didn't have washable wool or the cleaners water was so hot that it did the damage. Never again.