The pinking shears have worked great for me.

I know you said you only have a regular sewing machine. Does that mean no zigzag stitch? If you do have the zigzag then do that on the edges and you will not have a problem. I always serge my edges and then wash it when I get home that way when I'm ready to use it it's ready to go.

Just clip the 4 corners of your fabric and no more raveling./

I prewash all my fabrics. I sometimes have a few threads to trim but not much if I have good quality cotton. Small pieces of fabric I put in lingere bag.

some fabrics from LQS also fray. a lot.

some fabrics from Hancock do not fray.

Thank you all for the wonderful tips! :) I spend so much time cutting the frayed ends that I end up frustrated...thinking that the material HAS to be pre-washed and no other way to do it! I even own a pair of pinking shears that my mother gave me before she passed away last year, and wondered what to do with them. (I am fairly 'unlearned' in quilting...teaching myself, with the help of this wonderful site!)

I serge the cut edges and then with the smaller size pieces I put in a mesh laundry bag. it works great also I wait until the weather is nice if the sun ever shines again in Ca. then I hang out on my clothes line, hang folded in half and hang straight and it is almost ironed when you take off the line. Then I touch up with a iron and fold again in half length wise and put on my folding sheets to store.
Also when I serge the edges I put in a tub that is marked not washed. So when the fabric is serged and folded on my folding boards I know these have been washed.
before I started this way I couldn't remember what was washed and what wasn't so when I got my cabinets to store my fabric I rewashed all my fabric to make sure.
It was alot of work but now I'm sure what's what.
kjym Kathy

I don't know why this works, but the easiest method that one of the quilt shops told me years ago was to cut about an inch wide triangle off from each corner & wash on gentle. You might give this a try on one piece and see if it works for you.

If you will cut a small triangle off each corner of the piece of fabric, it won't ravel or fray in the wash.

There is no need to go to all the bother of doing anything else other than cutting off the corner. The rest is just a waste of time.

When you are talking about "washing" your fabric what do you mean? It doesn't need to go through a long wash cycle like a pair of work pants? If you are trying to preshrink your fabric (and I do not) you just have to put it in a very short very gentle cycle to wet it and spin it and dry it. Don't over dry it either. If it is falling apart on a gentle cycle you wouldn't want to use it anyway as it will fall apart. :D
This is just my thoughts and feelings about it. I don't even prewash my fabrics I like to have them have to old look after they are washed. Sandi

I have been trying to get all my old fabric washed and folded neatly. I clip the corners and have very little fraying. However when you cut or break off those stray strings I save them for future fiber crafts. I saw some beautiful work the other day at a high school art show. Now I want to try it for sure. I have been saving threads from washing and also clipped threads at the sewing machine just for this

I see so many here saying this works, but it doesn't work for me when I do it. I wonder what the difference is? Is it HOW we wash our fabrics? Top loader vs front loader? Different cycles? Regular vs gentle or perm press?

I'll cut off a small corner with my pinking shears. I don't over load my machine. I use my top loader and perm press setting on cold for about 6-8 minutes and let it spin.

When I take my several pieces of fabric out of the washer, they look like a train wreck! They're all twisted together with a webbing of tangled threads that takes me the longest time to cut off. I know this can't be good for my fabric, as it's pulling on the weave, but in most cases, I DO prefer to prewash for a variety of reasons.

What am I doing differently that's causing my fabrics to tangle when so many others' fabrics here are coming out just fine, no tangled thread?

Amen!!!

:lol:

before I wash my fabric I serge it on my serger with what ever color of thread I have in there. That way I am sure it won't fray.

I tried this with alot of <1yd and FQs and was disappointed in the results - had to clip chunks of threads to get the fabric flattened out on some pieces. Very disappointed. :cry: I'm not sure what I'm going to try next. :roll: I hinted really strong for a serger from my kids at Christmas but it didn't happen.

This is what I do too!

[quote=EagarBeez]I don't want my fabric to fray in the wash.


I heard somewhere many years ago to trim off one corner of the fabric before laundering. I've done this for years and it really helps to control the fray.

~Shirley

next time just cut a 1/2" triangle off each corner (4). it will not ravel because the thread can not "run"across the fabric.

i either serg or sew my up the edge of mine before washing

I do this too and it seems to cut down on the fraying.

I am not a prewasher, I did try it once many, many years ago with many of the methods listed above and never had good results with even QS quality fabrics. There are as many opinions on this subject as there are members on the board. Everyone has their reasons for doing it one way or the other. Be it all the chemicals they put in fabric nowadays to shrinking and on and on. Personally I never had any problems with bleeding or many of the problems people who do prewash have had. When I did my study of prewashing in my frontloading washing machine I used the gentle cycle and put in the dryer for normal drying. Still had the strings, with clipping corners and various other methods. I could serge or sew the fabrics but you're still going to lose the area you did this in unless you took the time to pull out all those threads after drying. Plus more intense ironing since we are using cotton. Way to much work for me and the final product (quilt) knows no difference between doing that or waiting to wash until your quilt was complete. Also once you fold it after you've ironed it you still will have to re-iron places where it has been folded. Just seems like that is way too much work for an end result that is the same when it is not prewashed. I iron each fabric before I cut it for my quilts and it works for me. JMHO! As one member said sometimes there are so many threads coming off after prewashing that it makes you wonder how the weave stays intact.

I also use Mary Ellen's Best Press when I iron and sometimes depending on the fabric I will use starch. But again, it all comes down to what one prefers to do and there is no one right or wrong way.....just the way you prefer.

I agree, I don't like the mess of the strings.

SAME HERE!

I have professional quilt designer friends and they serge the edges first. I don't - too lazy.

The same thing happened to me when I washed a quilt before sandwiching and quilting it. I'm not sure if I would have had the same problem after it was put togther or not. It was a gift and I wanted prevent shrinking, never thinking of the fraying and it was not a cheap fabric. Some seams were weak after the wash so I did heavier quilting than planned on.
I will watch this thread, and am wondering if there is a way to tell if a fabric is going to fray before purchasing it?

I cut the corners on an angle, not much, wash on delicate,
very little fraying. I don't have a dryer, so I hang to dry. Hope this helps. :-D

I pink the cut edges, wash by hand with a color catcher and dry in the dryer. I then use spray starch while pressing to restore the fabric body for easy in cutting and handling. Very little trouble with threads, bleeding, etc. I am chemically sensitive and I can't work with most fabrics unless I pre-wash. If I did not have this problem, I would probably wash the quilt after it is completed. I think it is a matter of personal preference and/or necessity. There is no right or wrong.

mariah

exactly.