Wash all fabric, always.

Absolutely! The materials are full of dyes, pesticides, and heavens knows what from the planting of the cotton, spraying ( such as DDT (which is not banned in other countries), etc. which was the main reason we quit growing cotton in the USA, as nothing really kills the boll weevil), dyes, storage, shipping, warehouses, and the list goes on. We have a few(very few) States trying to revive our cotton crop here in the USA ( like Texas that has lost thousands of acres due to the drought there) the majority of it is grown overseas. It's not about wrinkly, puffy, etc. of the quilt but the cleanliness. imho... Sorry if this is too long...

Yes, always, always I wash and dry fabric before I use it. I smooth very carefully and fold it with a ruler, most times it doesn't need pressing, except for the folds. I don't use starch anywhere on my fabrics or quilts.

I wash almost every fabric I use. In addition, if testing reveals bleeding, I use "Retayne" on the piece. With reds, I don't bother testing, I "Retayne" every one of them. I love that product!
Dayle

Always wash my fabrics when I bring them home - except flannels for ragg quilts. If you wash flannels intended for ragg quilts they don't "ragg" nicely. But then I wash the ragg quilt before giving it (at a laundromat, of course, to avoid clogging up my washer & dryer).

I only wash my fabric if I buy from estate sales, or such. Use lots of starch!

All my fabric goes into the laundry room before it goes into my sewing room. Each fabric can shrink at a different percent and this can cause a problem at a later time. Also, colors can run. Not just red, but blue, aqua, green, brown and blacks. So to be safe it gets washed. Then I use Magic Sizing spray to give the fabric a very light amount of body. I have never been disappointed in the results. 8-)

yes, as some colors bleed onto others. that is so bad, :)

I ALWAYS PREWASH, starch and iron before it goes into my stash. Only exception is the pre-cuts.

I will only wash in cold water just in case the color runs, but I can't bring myself to wash in HOT water..........I paid for all that and I don't want to lose some of the size in the wash and dry. I even hang my cloth to dry. In the winter it helps me from feeling like I'M turning into a prune!!!!! Denise