Welcome to the board from Texas

I prewash, allergic to the dyes or sizing in fabric. I try not to buy precuts unless I want the variety and its a really good price. I use both steam and dry iron.

I have been making quilts since the mid 70's, and I never pre-wash my fabrics. I have never had any problems either. When I wash my quilts, I never use hot water, never put them in a wringer washer, and use a gentle detergent like you would use for babies clothing.

I wash the pre-cuts and yes the jelly rolls. They usually go into a lingerie bag. I have a tag gun I use and have also used bread wrappers to keep the pieces together. Keeps them from tangling! Plus size knee-highs are good to use also.

OK, I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet, but how are you using bread wrappers to wash precuts? My brain is still foggy.

I don't prewash. It has never caused any problems for me.

Dina

I pre wash all of my fabrics. If is going to shrink or fade or bleed or otherwise misbehave I want to know before I start making the quilt. I think most, if not all would agree to pre wash flannel as it usually shrinks quite a bit. I learned that one the hard way in high school when I made a cute flannel shirt without pre washing it & it shrunk like crazy. I also managed a few JoAnn Fabrics way back when and had some allergy problems caused by the sizing and things used in processing fabrics. So pre washing was always my choice. I'm a steamer too- I just always have, never knew not to!

To each their own though. There are many accomplished quilters who don't pre wash their fabric and have no problems.

Having learned the hard way about fabric I thought would not bleed , I prewash .. especially batiks. It took just once to have my hard work ruined by one bleeding fabric , I would rather spend the extra time at the beginning of the project than have the heartbreak of a ruined quilt.

I prewash everything except precuts, and I seldom buy those. I sometimes use steam, sometimes spray, sometimes dry, and recently when I had a lot of half-yard pieces I did the old technique of spritzing the fabric and wadding it up and placing it in a plastic bag before ironing. We used to do that with clothing before permanent press came out, and it still works great, so I'll do it again. I starch when I think it's necessary.

I don't prewash either.

I pre-wash (except pre-cuts) because I have asthma and the chemicals in the dye trigger my asthma. This is really a problem when I iron the fabric if it isn't pre-washed. When I walk in the door with fabric, it goes right to the laundry room before it even sees my sewing room. If I'm using a pre-cut or kit, I open the window, use my inhaler, and iron as little as possible. I always use steam. It takes less pressure on the iron. I agree with everyone else, there are no rules. You'll find what works for you.