Prewashing fabric
 

I am going to make my GS a baseball quilt. I will use navy, red, and gray prints and solid white fabric. I was going to wash the red, but now I am concerned with the dark blue. Should I just prewash all of the fabrics?

Dark blue is one that frequently runs and even fades in the wash. I would definitely pre-wash it, but I pre-wash everything (except pre-cuts and fabrics destined for a OBW or S&W).

Are you worried about bleeding? If so, may I suggest doing a bleed test? Take a white cotton towel, dampen a corner, and rub it on the fabric for a few seconds. If the towel shows any color, you will need to treat it to prevent bleeding. This method has always worked for me - it's written by a quilter who is a professional hand-dyer.

https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/upl...edingquilt.pdf

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Including the gray and white fabrics.

I recommend soaking each of the fabrics (only like colors together) in hot water for a couple of hours and then washing them - gentle cycle, cool to warm water. Dry until "barely done".

Imagine the worst case scenario for how that finished quilt might be washed. I would wash the fabrics, and batting (if it can be washed before it is quilted - not all battings can/should be washed.)before cutting them so there are no unpleasant surprises later.

Your fabrics may all be perfectly "fine" - and you might wonder why you bothered with the fussing.

Or you might find that you have a bleeder - and be grateful that you learned that before you made the quilt instead of after it was washed.

Others will probably give you different advice.

Yes, wash the blue fabric and the others too.

I had to wash the last quilt with blue fabric about 3 times.

I always prewash fabrics with several colorcatchers, finished quilts also. I only use coldwater Tide. Never lets me down.

As you can tell, yes to all of the above. Especially that navy or dark blue. It may have to be washed more than once. I keep washing till the color catcher is light white. I make many Ole Miss quilts in red and blue. It's not pretty when they run together.

Pre-wash it all. Not only will you be safe from colors running after you've completed it but you save yourself from handling fabric with chemicals in it and ensure that it doesn't shrink unevenly from pre-washing some fabrics and not others.

I prewash everything because of chemicals, insects, shrinkage, color fading, etc. One fabric (a RJR) got past me. When I pressed the blocks, the steam shrunk that fabric and distorted the block. It took some fancy pressing to get it large enough to sew to the next block. Lesson learned.

I've always been a prewasher. Except now, folks know me as the scrap saver and donate a lot. These can't be prewashed easily. I do wash those quilts before donating to the cancer center, though.

Scraps (and pre-cuts) can be washed. It's a bit of a bother, but can be done.

To minimize fraying - I soak the scraps (in hot water) either in the sink or in kettles - rinse them - then spin them in the washing machine to get them"not drippy" -

The pieces can be hung on a drying rack, laid out on towels, or dried in a dryer.

Guess it depends on how important having washed before cutting fabric is to one.

My feeling is - if a large piece of fabric has characteristics about it that require washing - it seems to me that a small piece of the same fabric has the same characteristics.

My machines are both "older" top-loading ones that one can set to anywhere in the cycle.

The pre-cuts will probably shrink - it is a matter of choice of whether they shrink before or after they have been incorporated into an item (if the item is ever washed).

I'm not a pre-washer but I would with those colors.
Red especially, but also the navy.

I'm a believer in prewashing, I wrote one of my book-length posts complete with pictures over here:
https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f...ml#post8328862

So yes, prewash, and if you are feeling insecure about a fabric, dunk it in a bit of boiling water and see what happens (in that post above), you can just leave the yardage intact and stick in a corner if you want.

Remember that sometimes cotton can have a wicking effect - so be prepared for more of the fabric to get damp/wet than just the corner that was deliberately put into the water.

Another vote for prewashing, especially those colors. Adding to the reasons, one reason I prewash is the fabric gives me a headache if I don't. I don't think the raw dyes are that good for you especially when we cut them and create fabric dust.

I pre-wash all of my fabric before I start a project. You might consider washing the red and blue separately just so they done bleed on each other.

I learned to keep the colors separated until I knew they would "play nicely" together.

Thank You everyone! I am going to be a prewasher! I love the krinkly look of quilts, any tips for prewashing and still getting that look?

Some people like the batting to shrink a bit for that look. I use poly batts so it doesn't happen :p

I agree with iceblossom, it's the batting the causes the crinkle. Choose a cotton rich one that says as least 4% shrinkage. I don't care for the crinkle look, so that's the batting I avoid.

The plus side to washing the fabrics before you cut them - and not washing a batting that will shrink - (to each his/her own) - is that the shrinkage will be the same for the whole quilt.

I prewash everything except precuts. I don't want any surprises after I put in the time and work on a quilt.

Another prewasher here. I prewash fabric as it comes in the house. I don't even like it my stash when it has manufacturing or agricultural residue and cooties from public handling. And I usually handle it myself it for a couple months from cutting to completion and would certainly breath in a few of those molecules or touch my eyes with residue. The insurance from bleeding colors is a bonus as well.

However, I know many quilters that I totally admire who prefer working with the manufacturing residues still present as it handles/sews more easily, and many report no bleeding in modern fabrics.