Prewashing precut flannel
 

Should I pre wash flannel jellyrolls and if so how would I do it?

I'm sure you will get conflicting opinion! I'm a pre washer. For pre cuts, I wash in the sink, spin in a salad spinner and line dry or dry flat.

I get the feeling that they would fray a lot!! I think I would not wash in this case (and I am an always pre-wash kind of gal) and make sure that everything I use--borders, batting and backing are also not prewashed. I think I would also make the quilt a bit bigger than planned because I think it would shrink the first time it is washed.

Even as an almost religious pre-washer, I would not pre-wash jelly rolls and particularly not flannel jelly rolls. Wet and let air dry maybe if you are concerned about dye runs? Otherwise, I would just use them as purchased.

I wouldn't wash it either because it will shrink and fray. You will have a big mess on your hands if you do it with your washing machine.

I wouldn't wash it. However, when your project is done, wash it by itself.

That is a tough one. I always prewash flannel due to shrinkage, but that might render your precuts to not be the proper size and useless. I don't think I would prewash, just use as is and hope for the best.

I wouldn't wash flannel precuts unless your project can tolerate a lot of shrinkage. Once you get the flannel pieced into a quilt top and *quilted* moderately, the quilting will prevent the flannel from shrinking too dramatically. Basically at that point the flannel cannot shrink more than the batting shrinks, because the quilting binds the three layers into one layer -- with the batting controlling the amount of shrinkage from that point on.

Flannel shrinks a lot, so pre-washing is a good idea. I like the suggestion to hand wash, use a salad spinner to remove excess water and lay out to dry - eliminating lots of fraying.

Don't buy any pre-cuts of flannel. period. Buy yardage, prewash once or twice. Dry in hot dryer. If you don't believe me, Measure your flannel pieces, write down all your measurements. Take photos on your cutting board or other flat surface, Before your pre-washing. Then lay out and re-measure AFTER washing, drying and ironing your flannel pieces. Throw a couple FQ of both your Flannel and a trusty quilters cotton into the same washing, it might be easier to get persuasive measurements from a FQ. You need to convince yourself, not just listen to any other advice. But remember "Not all Flannel Fabric is Equal." Do some research and read up about what makes Quilters' Flannel different than other weights. Good luck, and please share with us on Quilting Board your results.