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.