I don't pre-wash. I found it takes too much time. I do pre-wash fabric I buy at garage sales or from thrift shops.

I would like to know how you do yourbatiks. Promise I won't choke. I throw mine in hot water, normal cycle, then after spraying with water and vinegar spritz, toss into the dryer with other fabric.

Since I usually don't get to piecing and quilting the fabric right away, I throw it in washer while doing other things. have been know to throw it in with the regular was like towels.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I definitely have decided that I am not going to drive myself crazy running to the dryer to "catch" while it is still damp and starch right before I cut. Plus will definitely accordion fold the longer pieces.
When I spray with the spray starch do I let is soak in for any length of time? I also heard that I should iron the wrong side of the fabric in case I get flakes. Is that true?
I do have to admit that the reason I don't know a lot about ironing is that I buy all my clothes wrinkle free and even if they get wrinkled I just hang them until the wrinkles fall out!

It's the agitation of washing on a regular cycle that causes both raveling edges and knotting fabrics (which causes wrinkles that then set in the dryer). Wash your fabrics on a gentle cycle and all those problems will be greatly reduced or entirely eliminated. New fabrics don't need a full cycle. Snip any long threads and open up all the fabrics before putting them in the dryer and you'll be surprised at how 'ready to fold' they come out when dry.

One little trick I use for all drying, I keep 4 tennis balls that are dryer dedicated. I toss them in for every dry, regardless of the fabric. Helps a lot with wrinkles, just don't overstuff the dryer.

Exactly what I do.

I mix my starch (MaryEllens Best Press) 50/50 with water. I haven't found it necessary to use it full strength (except for appliqué).

When I am ready to use/starch ... I will spray starch if the amount of fabric I need at the time is not cumbersome to work with. If I have a lot to starch (i.e. backing), I mix starch and water (50/50) into a 9X12 pyrex baking dish and slowly fold my fabric into it making sure to wet it completely and get all the air bubbles out. I then wring it into the bowl and empty the bowl into my bottle of pre-mixed starch (because I hate wasting stuff). Then I take the wet lump to the ironing board and iron it.

I agree with bearisgray. I just washed a batch of red that bled like crazy...thank you for Retayne!

I don't prewash unless I want a quilt to lay really flat with little or no pucker from the quilting. I like the puckery (new word?) look

I've never understood the fan folding idea for long yardage. I pre-wash up to 10 yard cuts as I described above (gentle cycle, etc) and they come out wrinkle free, ravel free, chemical free, bleed free, grain restraightened, and evenly shrunken. Those last four are the reasons I pre-wash, the first two are bonus points. :)

It would seem to me that fan folding for the wash would possibly (likely, imo) result in:

a) damage to the fabric - heavy, wet fabric under agitation pulling on pin holes that most likely broke threads when they were first inserted because the pins are usually larger than the spaces between fabric fibers and were forced through multiple layers at the same time, definitely in batiks

b) uneven shrinkage - fabric with limited mobility would potentially shrink unevenly and result in warping

c) misaligned grain - locking the fabric in place prevents any straightening of the fibers necessary to realign the grain; it also potentially distorts the grain even more than before washing

d) all of the above

None of these problems is blatently visible if you aren't looking for them, but that doesn't mean they aren't happening and making a difference to your sewing accuracy. Just some things to consider.