Preshrinking flannel?
 

Hi, Friends,

I just finished a quilt top for some friends who just had a baby. I did prewash my flannel, but recently I heard someone say that you should really prewash flannel THREE TIMES. Am I in trouble????

Thanks,
A

I think you should be fine. I had not heard this before, I guess it depends on the flannel. You did wash it so I am guessing it will be just fine.

You should be okay. I do wash flannel 3 times and dry in the highest heat of the dryer as I never know how it will be treated when it arrives at it's new home.

Hi, I usually wash flannel twice before using in a quilt, but that is just personal preference. I think you will be fine with one prewash and dry. :)

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I might be okay right now! Phew.

I always find this to be so funny....many people will insist you have to wash your flannel so many times its not even flannel any more. I've made so many quilts that I didn't pre-wash it at all= and years later they are still just as great as when they were new- if the flannel I buy is single sided, and a looser weave or thin I do *most of the time* pre-wash it===once. if I am using great, heavy, double sided flannel I generally do not pre-wash it unless it is a deeply saturated dyed flannel that might bleed. I do always launder my finished quilts- as soon as the binding is done last step to a completed quilt is laundering - I've never had any problems .... since shrinkage is dependent upon the whole quilt (top, batting, density of quilting along with backing) **sometimes people tend to over complicate things and create a lot more work for themselves then is ever necessary.

The multi-wash approach is to try to get all the shrinkage out of the way before using the fabric. Hot water wash and hot dryer.

You won't be "in trouble" ... your quilt just might get more of the crinkled old fashioned look when washed, than if the fabric had been washed more often before making your quilt. Too, keep in mind that most battings are going to shrink too, unless of course, you have pre-shrunk that.

It depends on the batting and the quilting. Once the three layers are quilted sufficiently, batting controls shrinkage. Years ago I took a class with Harriet Hargrave. She had made a quilt out of unwashed flannel to prove to us that fabric shrinkage is really not a concern when you are doing moderate machine quilting. She measured the quilt before and after washing, and it shrank only the usual amount of the batting (Hobbs 80/20).

Where you can run into problems is if the unwashed flannel quilt is tied. Also, if quilting lines are far apart, it's possible for the flannel between the quilting lines to shrink enough to distort the quilt. Even then, though, it's usually possible to re-wet the quilt and block it, then add additional quilting lines.

I wash flannel several times before using but for me, it's mostly because of the lint factor.

I bought some flannel and washed it in hot water and through in a hot dryer. I measured before and after.