Prewashing flannel
 

I want to try quilting with flannel pre cuts but I keep reading that I have to prewash flannel. How do I do that with precuts?

What kind of precuts are they? If fat quarters, I would prewash them. Anything smaller, probably not.

I pre-wash everything that comes into my house due to contact allergies. Doesn't matter if it's a 2.5" mini charm. I use the soak cycle with cold water (Tap water cold if that's available) and a small amount of detergent. When they're done, I dry them partway on Low Heat in the dryer & iron them the rest of the way dry (or lay flat to dry if it's too late at night when I pull them out of the dryer).

Quality fabric really doesn't shrink or fray that much anymore. If you want to be overly cautious, you can run a zig-zag or overcast stitch along the edges of the pre-cut. I've done that once or twice back when I bought cheapy fabric & it works fine. The other thing I've done if I'm going to be cutting it down further (e.g., for applique) to where I have more than 1/4" extra from the edge is to run a narrow bead of Fray Block or Fray Check along the edge. I wouldn't recommend leaving that on there, but if you have as little as an extra 1/8" (meaning 3/8" total), you can easily trim it off.

Note: if you suspect the end-user is going to be washing the quilt in warm water or a medium dryer, you will need to pre-wash in those same conditions -- and then I would definitely recommend securing the edges with stitching because heat & and agitation will both cause the flannel to shrink and fray more. There's no need to wash in those conditions if the recipient is willing to wash on gentle cycle, cold water, low heat tumble dry, but flannel that was pre-shrunk under those conditions will shrink again if exposed to higher heat and/or more agitation in either washer or dryer.

The quality statement was made by the woman at the fabric store. I'm gonna see.! I'm finishing a quilt w/ a flannel backing. Although, I do put a lot of quilting in it and I'm using Dream Cotton which doesn't really shrink. I hope i'm not sorry.

I have had flannel strips and I just first baste a few together to keep them from tangling then throw them into a lingerie bag. I picked a couple really nice lingerie bags that look like pillow cases (you can use these also). I throw them into hot water and a hot dryer to make sure the shrinkage is done.

I usually do prewash only flannel but NOT any precuts. They will shirk a bit and you won't have the original size any longer.

Thanks so much ladies!

I seem to be a dissenter--I frequently use flannel as backs and rarely prewash. In more than 20 years, the warranty to replace worn quilts has never been used! I will prewash if it is bargain store quality. When that shrinks it is the weight I want it to be. I believe that the quilting holds it in place or that it shrinks equally with the rest of the quilt. I like to think I'm efficient rather than lazy. 8^)

bree. What do you use to wash?

I never pre-wash decent quality fabrics. They just aren't going to shrink much. I won't waste time on it, and haven't for many years.

I did a pieced baby flannel quilt and did not prewash and it was a mess when I washed it in cool water and dryer dried it-- all the fabric was LQS and some pieces shrank and some did not. Tossed it. I have had some LQS flannel that did not shrink at all and some that lost several inches -- if the fabric came from JA's the shrinkage was worse.

Just because a LQS has it doesn't necessarily mean its good quality.

There are other reasons to prewash besides shrinkage. Once a member posted here that she hit her brand new un-prewashed high quality fabric with the steam iron and a toxic gas cloud came from the fabric that caused chemical burns to her skin and affected her upper respiratory. I don't think she will consider prewashing a waste of time after that horrendous incident.

The majority of fabric is manufactured overseas and treated with many harsh chemicals to keep vermin and insects from wanting to get into it while it sits in storage containers at piers and on ships. Others are treated with sizing to give it a nicer "hand". Formaldehyde is a very common chemical applied to fabric as an agent to prevent wrinkling, give a better hand, reduce static etc.

One member reported seeing a child in a quilt shop wiping their hands after sneezing on the fabric sitting on the shelf.

Of course it is the end users decision. Many prefer to work with un-washed fabric. Others like Bree and myself have chemical sensitivities and then there are so many of us, (myself included) that started working with fabric by sewing garments and prewashing was drilled into us by home-ec teachers. So despite my chemical sensitivity which developed only within the last 10 years or so, my prewashing habits were already deeply ingrained.

And that is why I prewash flannel - twice. Other fabrics are prewashed once. If they aren't prewashed before I work with them than the chemical sensitivities make me miserable.