Just a fyi: when ingested, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde.

AS does fruit pectin. There have been several studies that refute this hypothisis.
http://whatdoesthesciencesay.wordpre...-formaldehyde/

I do not wish to side track this any further.

I don't think a quilt is finished until it's washed. I noticed when my DGD was little and would go with me to fabric shops her eyes would tear up and get red. It was the chemicals from the fabrics. She isn't sensitive to it now but I made sure I pre washed all my fabric when she was small and stayed around my sewing room a lot. I would never take a newborn or infant to a fabric shop and if you notice most infants seem to be fussy and crying in a clothing store.

I read somewhere that any fabric imported (just about all the fabric in our stores) is sprayed with insecticide before being shipped. Our country has laws requiring that most products be sprayed so insects are not imported into the country with goods.

I have a dress that I paid a lot of money for from a well known online clothing store. Lo and behold the thing was made in India and when I recieved it, it stank so badly of insecticide I couldn't wear it. Today I washed it for the third time and included baking soda in the wash in the hopes that would get rid of the awful smell. I realize that imported fabrics and clothing need to be sprayed but really!! The dress smells like a whole bucket of insecticide was dumped on it. I rather pay even more and have my clothing made in the USA out of cotton grown in the USA. It would be better made and without the smell.

The formaldehyde is added for wrinkle resistance primarily, not insect control, though that is a side 'benefit' of it, as is the crisp feel that many give as the reason they do not pre-wash. Manufacturers work long and hard to create non-wrinkling fabrics so the odds of washing out the formaldehyde are really pretty slim...especially in clothing. Once it 'cures' and stops smelling, it's still there. More than you want to know about it can be found here.
http://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/20...-your-fabrics/

California has been posting warning signs for at least 4 years (probably way before that, but that's when it started showing up on quilting boards).

A lot of the smell in fabrics that are shipped from the Far East is a product used to keep mold from forming as it is so humid there. We lived over there a lot when my DH was stationed there and had to hang small bags of it in our closet's. When I got home and walked into fabric shops it was the same smell, sometimes so strong I could not stay long.

Just read the article. Scary!!!!

I had a friend that ordered the insulating material (cant think of the name) from Nancys Notions. The smell was so bad she had to put it in the garage, washing did not cut it. She called customer service and was told that they used formalehyde to kill the bed bugs that is such a problem over seas. So that is the alternative if companys stopped using that chemical.

I wash my fabric to get the smell out, also I do not want my pets to get sick from licking the fabric. Made my cats catnip bags, they lick them as well as kick with hind feet etc.
I use warm water, delicate wash, color catchers and if the fabric is super stiff, fabric softener.