Question about flannel
 

Hello,

I'm making a youth quilt. My top is pieced with cotton quilting material. I want to use flannel for the backing. I love traditional quilts but the softness of flannel is so irresistable. My question is about pre-washing. I did not pre wash my top. Will the flannel shrink more than my top? I'm wondering if I should pre wash the flannel even though I did not prewash my traditional cotton top? Thanks for your help.

yes you should pre-wash your flannel- some people insist on pre-washing flannel 3 or more times---i never do- i've been using flannels for over 40 years- i love flannel! and back many quilts with it- i incorporate it into the tops of quilts- i use flannel when ever i feel it is the right choice for what i am doing- i pre-wash ONE time-- batting and quilting have as much (and more) to do with final results as the fabrics do--
flannel has a looser weave than the regular cottons we use- pre-washing tightens up that weave giving you a more *luxurious* soft/fluffy fabric with good body. and makes wonderful cozy quilts!

Depending on the color, I may have to wash a couple of times. Red and blue can be really bad bleeders.

You can pretty much guarantee that flannelette WILL shrink!

Because of the looser weaves of flannelette, thus the shrinkage.
I read something recently, that you can expect at least 5% shrink.
That would meanfor 40" WOF, a 5% shrinkage would be two inches.
I've had it shrink more on repeated washings.

Quilting cottos , some shrink, some not so much.
So there is less risk by not pre-washing, though there is a risk.
Though if one shrinks a lot, and the fabric next to it doesn't ... what do you have?

As for fabric bleeding ... quilting cottons and flannelettes are all susceptable.
Washing them once, does not mean you have dealt with that issue.

Yes...yes...yes...please wash the flannel...it will really really shrink. My personal recommendation would be wash, hot water, dry-hot dryer and then do it again.....Measure you pieces you will be VERY surprised had how much it will shrink....would also recommend you pink the raw edges as they will ravel like crazy.

I'm with ckcowl on this one. i use a lot of flannel for backing. I've never lost the"inches" some people claim- a bit of shrinking- enough to make it cozy. i see my quilts in use a lot, most are given to family- they hold up quite well.

For those of you, who love flannel - check out WalMart's "Super Flannel" flannels. They're thicker and fray less. The bolt end says "super flannel" and I've only seen it in solids.

Yes! .,.. abuse it with lots of hot water and hot dryer ... and repeat ... and keep repeating til the shrinage is done!!

Or instead of the pinking of edges ... zigzag stitching help hold it together.