I am prewashing two pieces of 6 yd fabric. In the past I pull it out of the dryer a big tangled spiral that is a pain to iron. Any tips on how to keep it from becoming such a mess?

yez yes yes and this works so nice


accordian fold your fab and use safty pins and pin each side it works so good

oh folds can be a foot but maybe pin 3 places and the folding is selvage to shelvage you pin both sides

Thank you! Thank you! I knew I'd seen something somewhere on here about this, but couldn't find it anywhere. THanks for the tip. I'm going to try it right now!

Some people put the fabric in a pillowcase and tie off the end.

I would take it to the cleaners and let them wash and iron it. :thumbup: :D

I always spin dry, and then just take it to the ironing board and iron it dry, it doesn't take too long, and it comes out wrinkle free then. You are going to have to iron it anyway, so might as well do it while it is still damp!

What great tips. I never would have thought of pinning it. I'm trying that next time I wash fabrics.

Me too. What a neat idea. I usually don't put it in the dryer. I just lay it out flat and iron it.

I take my scissors with me and cut all the ravles loose as I take it out.

when you iron two wet 6-yard pieces, don't they just drag all over the floor? if i did that i'd be washing the floor with them. i tried putting a laundry basket in front of the table but then i have to bend over to iron. do you know a secret?

fan folding and pinning--- so cool.
what a great idea.
thanks, I plan to try it the very next time I need to wash fabric.
I always put small pieces such as fat quarters into a net laundry bag. That works great to.

I have heard of cutting a small corner off to avoid the tangles, but never tried it. My hubby pre-washes and folds all my fabric, I iron it:)

When the pieces are too long, I drape over the shower rod and use my steamer to loosen the wrinkles then let it hang until it dries. Much easier than ironing and keeps it off the floor.

Great idea! thanks

I use a basting stitch and stitch the two ends together using approx. a quarter inch. This keeps it untangled and easy to cut off the ends and the ravels. I have also been advised to not wash more than 6 yd lengths at a time if possible. It works for me every time.....

This group is so good about sharing. I learn so much just reading! I am glad "I Am Trying" started the thread. I wouldn't have thought to ask!

Marilyn

If you have a serger, serge both ends; this works out very nicely. No threads to deal with.

I got a lot of pms about the cost of the cleaners doing big cuts of fabric. The local cleaners charged me $6 plus tax to wash and press 3 separate 7 yard cuts (backing) and gave me a coupon for one item done free for my visit. I don't like ironing big pieces of fabric at all.

are you having them laundered? or dry cleaned?

I do the pillow case too, and just use a large piece of something to tie off the bag so it wont get out in the dryer..what a pain to have all the ravel edges...what I hate is the ironing part of it..........

I like the idea of sewing the ends together!!! Thank you for this tip :D:D:D

i've never done that. i do a variety of other things depending on the length. how many yards can you comfortably get in one pillowcase in one piece?

I have use a zig sag stitch on the selvage ends before washing that keeps down the ravles. The first time I washed some fat quarters, I just washed and dryed in the dryer, what a mess. Didn't do that again. I like the ideal of pining it together and never thought about using a pillow case. Thanks, I got some to wash now, going to try these suggestions.

I do big pieces more often than I do small ones. (I usually buy fabric and then decide what to use it for, so have learned the hard way not to buy small pieces if I have a choice.)

I put a dining room chair on the other side of my ironing board to catch the fabric and keep it off the floor, although not exactly wrinkle-free. Because I always iron damp fabric, I need to iron it twice anyway; by the time I've done the second pressing, hung it on a wooden clothes rack to finish drying, it is essentially wrinkle-free and has not mopped the floor.

yup! me, too. long pieces. there's a clearance warehouse right near here, with a lot of timeless treasures, but you have to take at least 4 yd cuts. at $4 yd, that's okay. so can i get 6 yds in one pillowcase?

Sometimes, if I don't have a lot of FQ's to wash, I do them in the sink or pail and then spin them dry in my salad spinner......then either hang or toss in dryer.

I tried cutting the corner off....it didn't work well. Sorry.

I put mine in a large mesh laundry bag (from the dollar store) and it works great. It cut down alot of the strings and it doesn't get wadded up either.

I tried the clipping the corners thing, and when I pulled them out of the washer, I had a lot of ravels, just like unclipped corners!!! :thumbdown:

Me too. That cutting did nothing.

My advice: not to prewash.

I fold mine with all the cut edges on the inside, then I wash by hand.

I just prewashed an 8 foot piece yesterday. It was on sale for $2.00 a yard!!!

I used one of the mesh laundry bags from the $1.00 store and did not cut the edges. I then ironed it dry. Not a lot of wrinkles!

I kept the wet part of the material in a laundry basket under the floor and the dry onto a bed. Kept it very nice.

I then rolled it around a 6 x 24 inch ruler as you would a bolt, then slipped the ruler out. Folded into 3 folds and it lays very nicely in a drawer or shelf in a very small space.

Keeps it very neat and I can see at a glance what the material is :) :) :)

Great idea! Do you really like the steamer and do you use it for other uses? I have been looking at them off and on for a few months now. But didn't know for sure if they worked as good as they say.

Ladies, I have just learned new ways to handle washing long yardage pieces. Thank you soo much. What great ideas. I have been fighting tangles and threads for years.

i just washed 4 yds of fabric by accordian folding with edges tucked in, and pinning both edges with safety pins. it came out looking like an outback onion. it's a good thing i used fabric softener. at least the crinkles didn't have hard edges. i put it in the drier and halfway through i removed the pins so it could dry the rest of the way. i'm glad it was only 4 yds and that i used the softener. the wrinkles were minimal. next time i'll try the pillowcase method. i

I love the folding/pinning idea. When I had a hand dyeing business I cut small diagonal corners from the half yard pieces and had a minimum of thread wads after the prep wash.

Laundered, pressed and folded. I told DH it saved me enough time to make his favorite pie, all he had to do was to stop and pick the fabric up for me and pay of course.

I try the pillow case last night and mine came out as bad as usual, lots of string. I cut them off and press them without putting in dryer. Most of these pieces were fat quarters, would that make a differents. What would have made the differents?