Freezing Fabric
 

Do you freeze your fabric? No, I'm not talking about where to store it or where to hide it from hubby.

I had a great quilting teacher. I took many classes from her through a community college. She advocated freezing fabric. I know there is a controversy about whether to wash fabric or not wash fabric. I happen to be a person who washes probably 95% of the fabric that I purchase.

After washing your fabric (if you care to do so), put it in the dryer and Partrially dry it. That is important. Don't dry it completely. Fold the fabric and put it in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer. Whenever you feel like ironing it, take it out of the freezer .... it may have some bits of ice on it. Iron it with a dry iron. As my quilting teacher said, "it irons like butter" .... can't say I've ever ironed butter! All the wrinkles will be gone and the fabric will be so smooth.

So, I ask again: do you freeze your fabric? If you don't, try it .... you may like it!

I'm a pre-washer and I'll have to keep this in mind, but no -- I've never deliberately frozen fabric. I did live in Alaska for a couple of decades so fabric definite got frozen :p

Never unsewn fabric, but in the olden days, I used to freeze my clothes to be ironed if they were dampened and rolled and I got bored with ironing. All those little full skirted dresses for my girls to play in. What was I thinking?

I'm a pre-washer too, but have not frozen the fabrics. I'll keep this in mind. I do recall my mom and grandma sprinkling wrinkled clothes and putting them into a pillowcase, then into the fridge.

I'm a prewasher, I find if I dry it with a fluffy towel and take it out promptly, I rarely have to iron it. I bought several hundred yards of fabric last year when the LQS went out of business, I may not buy any more for several years.

The only time I've put textile goods in the freezer was to deal with a potential insect issue.

my mother in law used to put the ironing in the refrigerator until she got to it

Well now. These days we are supposed to think outside the box, but this would definitely be thinking inside the box, ice box that is.

I remember my Mom putting sprinkled clothes in the fridge too. I can't say if she ever threw them into the freezer. But laundry was hung outside even in the winter. It helped to keep the whites white and also to bleach things like flour bag fabric, which would then be embroidered and hemmed for 'everyday' teatowels. Sugar sack fabric was made into 'fancy' or 'Sunday' teatowels. I can also remember it being so cold that whoever took the washing off the line had to be careful not to break the corners of the towels and sheets.

Thank goodness for dryers!!

Amen to that! I have never frozen fabric, but then I'm not much of a prewasher either. I will keep it in mind if I decide to pre wash.

That's such a great idea! I have taken over so much of our house with my quilting stuff....I'm afraid I'd better stay out of the kitchen or there'd be no food in the freezer and lots of fabric! This morning, I noticed I've started to put my stuff outside my sewing room "just while I'm quilting"......then it kind of just stays there!

Ive Never frozen fabric but some of the comments reminded me that my mother used to sprinkle ironing and put it in the fridge until it mildewed and then threw it away. She was not the most motivated homemaker. I learned to iron as soon as I got old enough to see what was going on. I still like to iron.

My grandmother did this with all her fabric and cotton dresses that needed to be ironed. Her reasoning was that after washing and drying partway, the freezer kept mildew away til she was able to iron her goods. She lived in Florida where it was a problem. I asked her why she didn't just spray water or starch on them before they were ironed, and she said that all the items ironed much better coming from the freezer. Peace, Brenda

Back in the day :D I used to sprinkle my blouses etc. with water and put them in the fridge for awhile before I ironed them. Never thought of freezing them, but seems like the same principal.

My mother used to hang out the clothes until they frize, then iron them dry. She also washed clothes with a wringer washer in an unheated lean to shed. We finally got a basement when I was 7, and she could wash and hang clothes down there. It also helped to raise the relative humidity in the house. I have never fozen fabric intentionally.

Well, that is an interesting bit of trivia. No, I have never frozen my fabric. And, I almost never pre-wash. (I don't like to take the time.) And, it is always so wrinkly when out of the dryer. I will have to try pre-washing again but don't dry all the way. Yes, very interesting idea.

When I was growing up the laundry to be ironed was always put in the fridge over night. Wash day and then ironing day. All clothes were dipped in liquid starch, wrung out, rolled up and put in fridge. A sprinkler bottle was used to wet the clothes before ironing. My mother and grandmother ironed sheets, pillowcases, and anything cotton until permanent press was available.

My mom would sprinkle our clothes to be ironed & put them in the refrigerator for a while before ironing or leave them there if she couldn't get to ironing them right away. Seems like I vaguely remember her putting them in the freezer at times also. I don't know what her reasons were but as kids we just didn't question things like that.

My mom did the same thing. I remember getting clothes out of the freezer to iron. I guess I thought it was normal.

My mother had a clipping on the refrigerator from a magazine - were talking the 50's here

Refrigerator: a place to store things systematically before throwing them out.

Ya’ll are clearly from a different era, haha! I have never heard of such a thing as freezing fabric, or refrigerating them before ironing. My mom was vigilant to pull clothes out of the dryer as soon as they were done because she hated to iron but hated wrinkles too.

“Irons like butter”!!! 😂😂😂

Pretty sure hubby would think I’d gone cuckoo if he found fabric in the freezer.

I don't have room in my freezer!!

My mom used a plastic sprinkler cap on a cork inside a glass soft drink bottle to dampen clothes. Then they got rolled up and stacked inside a wooden slat laundry basket with a plastic liner, and she took them out one at a time to iron them immediately.. But she never put anything in the fridge or freezer.
I think putting our fabric in the freezer unnecessarily would be harmful. I suspect the extreme temperature would cause some premature breakdown of the cotton fibers. Just saying because we were taught in vintage fabrics/appraisal classes that cotton likes to be stored at the same temperatures as we like to live in, no extreme hot or cold, which is why attic storage is a huge no-no.

I've never heard of this before.

When I was a kid we did the sprinkle, roll item up, put in frig, then when cold pull out and iron--worked good--I did the ironing in our house

I still have my “sprinkle bottle”! It is an old wine bottle with a sprinkle top that was available at Woolworth for about 25 cents. I sprinkled the clothes and put the in the refrigerator until I was ready to do the ironing. (Usually when I watched Art Linkletter or Merv Griffin). My sprinkle bottle (like me) is now retired and it lives on a shelf in my laundry room. I still love to iron.

That used to be done with linen, especially linen table cloths. I don't remember the freezer but I do remember them being "cold" when ironing. Maybe the freezer is just faster.

I just found this online. Some of the ideas are "out there", but it may give you a little chuckle.

https://housekeeping.wonderhowto.com...undry-0163734/

I remember when young we've sprinkle the clothes to be ironed with water, roll them up, put them in a plastic bag and throw them into the fridge but never the freezer. Might need to try this out. Thanks for the tip. Sometimes those old fashioned ways are better than we realize.

I'd not have room in my freezer either. I do remember my mom sprinkling clothes with a sprinkler bottle before ironing.

let's just say "it's Interesting!"

Ditto nor do I have rm in my Frig...and I have a full second freezer in my garage ...maybe I should consider another for just fabric!

I always pre wash all new fabrics. I dry one large piece by themselves, fold with ruler and never need to iron.

I have my freezers full of food. I grew up in the 50s. Life was much different than now. We had a wringer washer and hung clothes outside unless it was raining. No room in fridge for dampened clothes. Never hear of it until around 1960. All outside clothes were ironed.

Until I was in my teens our "freezer" was big enough for 2 ice cube trays and about 2 1/2gal of ice cream--so no ironing in the icebox! But my Mom had a large 7-up bottle with a sprinkler top and would wet the ironing, roll it up and it would go into the frig usually just overnite.(small refrig so nothing stayed in it very long!) I asked once and she said that since we did not have A/C, and the clothes needed to "sit" moist before ironing, the frig kept them from mildewing.

I do this with linen table cloths. My God Mother who is a woman of incredible grace and style, told me to wash my linen table cloths in hot water, roll them up, put in a plastic bag and store in the freezer. The day before using, I take it out and as you said use a dry iron and iron it dry. The table cloth would be so smooth and crisp.

I am one who washes most fabric when it comes into my house, for the simple reason that I get eczema from the chemical residue left on the cloth.

My mom used to iron my dad's white shirts like that. They came out white, crisp and the sleeve creases would cut you.

I used to do this with clothing... never thought about fabric. But why not. Will get really crease free fabric

My mom did the same. Rolled and into the freezer. She used to take in ironing for money. I too thought it was normal!

When I was young my sisters kept their new packages of nylons in the freezer!

Same here. Mom said it was easier to get the wrinkles out of the clothes.

I remember my Mom sprinkling my Dad's shirts and rolling them up before ironing. She didn't put them in the fridge though. I think she did it right before she was ready to iron.