Hi Ladies~

I am new to quilting and confused as to how I should wash my fabrics. I want to work on a quilt for my son while he is at church camp this week. Not wanting to ruin any of the fabric, Jack and I are turning to our new mentors for help. What colors should I wash together, and what colors should be by themselves?

Thanks bunches!

Amy & Jack (our Lab)

My personal technique, when I do wash fabric, is to wash each fabric separately in the sink (unless we are talking yards and yards, in which case, I throw that into the machine on extra low, together with a white wash cloth. That way, I can tell which fabrics are running, if any. If one does run, then I will either soak in white vinegar, or possibly use some retayne, or, depending on how important keeping the color intense is to me, I might just rinse until the water runs clear.

If you are using premium quilting fabrics, the chances of running and significant shrinking are low, and more and more quilters are skipping that step. If however, you are using a mixture of lines and qualities, or some of your fabrics are older, then washing is a good idea. And reds are notorious for running, so I will often wash them, specially if there are light fabrics in the finished project.

RST

I would wash all together except the white/cream, which I would wash separately. I would put all in the washing machine with laundry detergent but no fabric softener.

I would wash the reds separately, and the creams separately.

same rules you would with clothes.....darks with darks and lights with lights and mediums somewhere between.

All the fabrics are new and from a quality quilt shop. Same weight and feel to each. I am concerned about the batik...which group should I place that in? It is only 3 yards and the accent colors are less than a yard each.

That makes sense. Thank you :-)

The only one I usually get scared of are the reds. If I have reds to wash I wash with as many red clothing, towels, etc. Others I just sort as reg. would be done. If I'm putting my clothes in the dryer with a dryer sheet, then I dry my fabric separately.

Then I should have washed them with the laundry tonight! Drat....

I do each fabric separately in the sink as well. No soap, just hand-hot water and rinsing until the water runs clear. Most don't run at all. I dry in the dryer, since that's where the most shrinkage takes place. If you trim the cut edges with pinking shears, they won't ravel.