Prewashing Batik Strips???
 

I have in my hot little hand a much longed for package of Tonga Treats, the Hard Candy colours. Yum!!

I always prewash my yard goods...is this necessary for batiks, and if so, what is the best method for strips?

My fancy front loader has a very gentle cycle on it to minimize fraying of all those edges...

many thanks for advice!
Janet

I recently hand washed all of my batiks - over 200 pieces - from fat quarters to yardages - MOST of the brighter, darker colors bled - not so much the lighter, pale colors. I gently swished them in a pure white dish pan and then gently wrung them out - then smoothed them out onto big thirsty towels and rolled them up - let them sit awhile - then hung them over clothes lines that I had my DH to put up in my living room. They did not take too long to dry that way and was relatively smooth when dry. Very little if any fraying on the edges. Don't know about jelly rolls - but I would think that some sort of washing would be necessary due to all of the bleeding that mine did.

test them if you are worried. then the ones that bleed hand wash and hang/lay flat dry. it is a good time to starch them also.

I have always read that washing jelly roll strips is not recommended.

I don't know if I'd wash strips, might distort them, i would just test them for bleeding, not wash them

I do not prewash any precut fabrics as I had a friend that did wash a charm pack and it distorted all the 5" squares. I do wash all my other fabric however. After you use a precut in a quilt, it would be a good idea to wash the entire quilt with a dye catcher for safety.

I soak all Batik's in a large bowl with Bubble Jet Rinse...use 4 cap fulls to 1 gal. water...I pat dry and hang over that folded z rack that's my name for it... and let dry..I have done this with strips and yards of Batik's...this Bubble Jet Rinse sets in the colors and will not bleed if washed at a later date...this works also on ties...ps..I'm working on a tie quilt and still needing more...Happy Holidays from Texas

Ps..forgot to remind you to put something under the hang rack...the dye's will drip to the floor and stain...i lay old towels under the rack...hope this helps...

I usually don't prewash my batik or other jelly rolls. I will wash the finish project with tide and oxiclean and have never had a problem

test for color-fastness- if you have a bleeder- pre-wash it=rinse until it doesn't run anymore- the rest don't worry about-
if you have a number of them a mesh bag will help keep them from getting all tangled up- and keep the fraying to a minimum.