Thanks everyone for your replies, really appreciate it. The instructions for my cotton batting advise not to machine wash it first. It says you can hand wash it but "if pre- washing batting is not desired we recommend that directly after completing your quilt....should be machine washed ....this will give your quilt the perfect antique -wrinkled look". I've got into a habit of prewashing fabric as once I had some fabric that seemed to shrink on ironing, which prevented my pieces lining up.

On another matter, just in case I don't use this cotton wadding on this project - i've heard that cotton wadding is necessary for baby quilts - is this true?

Thanks again everyone & happy quilting 😀
xx

Welcome Helen to the QB. Just my thoughts-I never prewash my batting. I did this once and had an absolute mess but we learn from our mistakes so I never did it again. I always use Hobbs 80/20 and when the quilt is completely done then I wash on a gentle cycle with cold water and I don't get much wrinkling at all. Good Luck and please share a pic of your quilt. Your parents will treasure any quilt you make them I am sure.

Hi Helen and welcome to the board!
I never heard of using only cotton batting in children's quilts. I wonder why? Maybe someone else knows.
On batting- I've never pre-washed it. I would just do what the manufacturer recommends.
I hope you show us when it's finished! :)

I prewash all my cotton batting because I am not fond of the crinkled look. I just unfold it and run it through a gentle cycle with hot water, no detergent. Dry in a hot dryer. Never had a problem. Do not wash your top as the seams will fray and you will have a mess. I do prewash all fabrics before cutting/piecing.

I make baby quilts all the time and don't use cotton batting. No complaints and no problems.

You can use whichever batting you want for a baby quilt. i use cotton or 80/20 cotton/poly. i don't personally like using a full poly batting because so many of them feel like brillo (steel wool) and i don't like to think about what that does to the fabrics in a quilt. Some quilts have no batt, and that is fine.

I like cotton batting and find it easy to quilt with. Sometimes I add some polyester to parts I want to puff more

I almost always use hi-loft polyester batting. Warmth without the weight. I pre wash all my fabrics and wash my quilts after they are totally finished. The wrinkled look is great and hides a multitude of sins.

I never pre wash batting and never use cotton batting. Good luck on your quilt.

Welcome to this board.

So do we have her totally confused as to what works? As for me, I prewash nothing and, unless it needs to be flat, I prefer poly batting. There are some fabrics that I pretest for possible bleeding. I only prewash if it comes from a place that I feel more comfortable that it is "clean" before going into my stash. I like the poofy look of poly batting and it has stood the test of time and use in all the quilts that I've made in the past 10 or more years. As to cotton, I'd want a bit of poly in it as my thought is that cotton will sort of wad and pull apart even within the quilt with future laundering. Just my thoughts and methods. To each his own and your own experience will let you know what you prefer. Since you already have the cotton batt, you might decide to simply wet it and then let it dry and use it. You will find out how you like it for the next quilt you make.

I used to prewash my fabric and use cotton batting.
Now I use the rinse and spin cycle for the fabrics. It seems to be enough. However, strong colors get a different treatment (reds, royal blues, blacks), because of the bleeding factor.
I have never prewashed or tried to preshrink a cotton batting. The wrinkled look doesn't do it for me anymore. I have old quilts from 3 generations...and now I'd like to switch to less wrinkled. I've tried Quilter's Dream Green. It's great, but I don't use it if there's a lot of white in the quilt.
Baby quilts have different suggestions from the manufacturers because of flammability. It's their way to protect from lawsuits. I make baby quilts and let the parents know the composition of the quilt. From there it is up to them whether to use it or not.
Welcome to quilting and to the QB. You'll find a lot of good advice here and will get to pick and choose what route to take on quilting. Enjoy!