Pre-wash by hand?
 

I have some black fabric that I'm afraid will bleed so I'm planning to pre-wash. Can I do this by hand?

In these days of high energy costs I don't really want to switch on the washing machine just to wash a metre of fabric. It can't go in with any other items because I'm afraid some of the lint from clothing could transfer to my fabric.

Sure! I sometimes do this. If you notice the fabric releasing dye in the wash water, just continue to wash / rinse until the water is clear.

That is what I used to do when I had a second bath tub. Wish I could still do it now. My niece said she bought a short oar to stir he items with so she did not have to bend over the tub to "agitate" the items. She said it worked great.

I soak new fabrics in hot water in the sink before they make it into the sewing room. Any colour that bleeds gets new water baths until the water runs clear. You will probably get many differing opinions on this.

Do you use any detergent or just plain water?

Never thought about using the bath but that would be much better than the sink - easier to spread the fabric out. Thanks for the tip

It's interesting to see that so far everyone agrees on the approach!

I don't pre-wash any of my fabrics but I do starch them in a dishpan and allow them to dry naturally. If they're going to bleed, they will bleed in my starch mixture and then I can take care of the problem most times. I'm usually starching up to 5-7 yards at a time so I wring out the starch using an old time top section of an old wringer washer. Couldn't find one of those towel wringers you see at auto shops and they're darn right expensive to buy new. I also give a couple color catcher sheets with instructions how and when to use them with every quilt I gift.

I usually pre-wash fabrics quite a long time before I actually need them, and gather sufficient fabric for a decent load size. I have occasionally washed the emergency piece by hand (as when something didn't make it into the load), and the only problem I find with that is that it dries very wrinkled, from having been wrung out by hand.

I pre-wash in my laundry tub if it's only a yard or two of fabric. kneeling/bending over the bath tub is a no go for me. Smaller pieces, pre-cuts go in my salad spinner, after I soak them in a bowl.