Don't do what I did!
 

Since I have been using starch, I love love it. Starching the fabric before using the Accugo really helps get nice cuts.I have a million 2 1/2 strips to sub cut so I thought I would save myself some time and make a large batch of liquid starch and soak the strips and then toss them into the dryer. What a mess!! It will take me forever to untangle and flatten so they can be pressed!!!! What the heck was I thinking!!!???!!!! So they are in the washing machine right now. That is what I get for being lazy!!!

Yikes, aren't you afraid you will have an even worse mess when you get them out of the washer?

Sounds like a real mess. I would be afrais it would ruin my dryer. Some short cuts are not good. I'm hoping for the best for you.

Thanks for posting this. Hope your untangle time goes quickly!

Hope it doesn't take you too long to untangle.

So sorry you're having such trouble, but I'm confused. How is putting them in the washer going to help? Won't you just have a tangled mess of WET strips?

My Mother used to do that, but hung them outside to dry not put them in the dryer. She would bring them in sprinkle them down, roll them in something for awhile then iron. I still have some blocks she had cut out but not done anything with, they are as stiff as cardboard.

Holy smokes.....sounds like you're going to have more of mess after putting them in the washer. Hope you have a LOT of patience today :0(

don't feel bad i have done done things just like that and trying to salvage the mess is the hard part and i have a hard time throwing things away so i fight it to the end... hope it works out for you

I love learning lessons from people who have already made the mistakes - sorry you are so tangled up. If you decide to experiment with the process again, you might try putting them in a lingerie bag, then into the dryer. Never done it but it might help since it keeps my bras from getting all mixed up.

What about your dryer - does it have starch on the inside now? I can follow your thought process, but thanks for taking it to the end for the rest of us who might be tempted to look for a quick-dry, too. When I want to cut, waiting for the starch to dry always seems to take forever!

Did that with over 200 3" squares once!

how to wash your fabric or strips and they not tangle. use large saftey pins. layer several strips of material. place a pin at each end, going through the material one time. if the strips are very long place one or two in between the ends. When doing a few yards of material , unfold mat. then fold long way into say 1 yard lengths accordding style. pin sa above. the material will not make a birds nest.

Best tip I've heard in a long time - thank you!!!!!! My quilting days just got easier thanks to you.....

A friend gave me several hundred 5" sqs. that were hand dyed, and yep....guess what I did. Washer and what a big mess that was. Probably not as bad as the strips but a mess just the same. Days later and much frustration (with a few colorful words thrown in) finally got them sorted, threads trimmed and pressed. Do you think there was a single 5" square left in the bunch. HA!!! Well all those little darlings are still in a bag marked some day...

Two hours of cutting threads and I almost have them all apart. I guess I didn't mention the reason for washing them was that Tons of the strips were glued together from the startch and very hard to pull a part.

I can't tell you how many times I've done something thinking it would save time only to learn the hard way not to take short cuts. And I still forget that lesson, although I'm getting better. I don't think you are lazy just trying to save time.

Actually, the dryer is good.

Sorry for your tangles. This sounds like something I would do!

Poor you.... what a chore. I wonder if you had put them in a mesh lingerie bag or pillow case before if that would have helped.

Yes, we used to do that too! We would sprinkle them down (we had a pepsi bottle with a sprinkler cork) and then rolled them up in a towel. If we weren't able to iron them right away, we would put the bundle in the freezer, that way they wouldn't get mildew.

You could have just sewn the whole mess to a background and called it an art quilt - LOL.

Sorry this happened to you - I have seen reports and I'd I'd be afraid to machine wash any precuts and put them in the dryer. Thanks for reinforcing the lesson. :)

Or maybe stuff it in a pillowcase & call it a doggy bed??
You have a lot more patience than I.

I am guilty of trying short cuts too to only find myself doing it the hard way

Keep us posted on the outcome of your tangles and how long it takes to untangle. Thanks for the heads up so none of us do a repeat performance (especially me). I am not sure I would not have done the same thing not thinking ahead of the tangled outcome.

kat its not a mess its 'ART' LOL

Make sure you take your dryer screen and soak it in some vinegar and brush it clean, thats built up on it and could be a 'fire' problem.

My washer has a handwash cycle. (GE Profile top loader) No agitation, just a gentle slow swish of the tub. I love it for washing quilts and especially for fabric. No tangles when washing small pieces and no threads! I didn't know how great this cycle was until after I bought the washer. I will never buy another washer without the handwash cycle. If the fabric pieces are small I let them air dry.

It's so nice when people post their mistakes, then we get to learn from them, and don't have to go through the headaches! Thanks for letting us know!

Believe me, they would have gone in the garbage except for the fact that I bought them as part of a kit and it wasn't cheap!!!!

I think we all learn my our mistakes.

I have washed strips before, and there was a real mess! I even used a lingerie bag, too, but there was still a mess! I didn't starch them, but wanted to wash them to go with other fabric that had been washed.

Can't imagine your surprise and frustration! Hope you're able to get out of your mess without a bigger mess!

I put moy scraps in a lingerie (sp?) bag. That way they don't get tangled .

I was always told NOT to ever starch fabric, spray-on or liquid, as bugs love to eat it and will ruin your quilts. What I do is use sizing, which stiffens, but is not a starch. Granted, it is a spray-on (haven't found a liquid one yet), but 99.9% of us iron our fabrics anyway. I even use sizing when I iron my DH's shirts - look just as good as starching. Yes, I know, I should send the shirts to the laundry for them to do so I have more time to quilt! :-)

An ironing tip: never, ever, ever use a steam iron. Water and irons, do not mix. Water will cause an iron to leak (see Rowenta thread from last week) eventually because of corrosion of the internal parts. Those of us who "sprinkle" their fabrics and use a dry iron, have just as crisp fabric as those who use a steam iron and we have irons that will basically last forever.

Good luck with your tangles!

Thanks for your courage to tell your screw ups. I believe in telling all too so that beginning quilters don't see our long road to lovely quilts as a instant road to success. We all learn from our many mistakes and mishaps. I use a portable drying rack with a cheap plastic tablecloth under it for drying that type thing. I also use my fingers as a squeege when removing the strips from the starch bath.

I do the small tub of liquid starch thing with all my fabrics, big pieces or little, but I have an outdoor clothesline on which to hang them and prefer them to be slightly damp yet when I iron them. If you do not have an outdoor line and are only doing strips, is there a way you can hang them to dry over the bathtub or in the shower?

Well two more hours spent cutting threads! So four hours in total to get the mess untangled. Now to iron all of the strips! That will be tonight's job.

Good to know! I just bought an Accugo and was debating taking it back, but will try starching to see if I have better results.

OMG ...Memories of almost the same thing that I did......had to toss all the squares..what a tangled frayed mess:(:(