I got my first jelly roll in the mail and I'm wondering... do you actually wash all those strips and iron them? What about charm squares? I would be concerned that they wouldn't be nice and square anymore, with or without ironing.

I am planning two quilts with these cuts and I am of a mind to not pre-wash.

I haven't bought jellies (yet!) but i don't wash charm squares - would be afraid they'd dissappear!

If you were worried about shrinkage or running dyes, I guess you could stick 'em in hot water and swish 'em around a bit!

K x

I wouldn't wash the jelly rolls unless you want a mess.

I have used both.. and never washed them first. I agree with Terri they would end up in a big ball of mess :lol:

I don't wash them and I've had good luck with them. I actually don't wash any fabric before I use it unless it feels really stiff.

Take a tiny piece from each jelly roll and put it in hot water then pat dry with a white piece of cotton fabric. If it will bleed you'll see it. If you are worried about shrinkage, steam iron the strips, that will shrink it. I've never had a problem with the name brand fabric jelly rolls bleeding but it pays to be sure. :D

Thank you, ladies. I am glad to hear that you don't wash them. I had visions of all those strips being wrapped around each other like a couple of pairs of nylons thrown in the washer and dryer.

The jelly and the charms are both Moda so I trust they will be ok and I'm not worried about bleeding.

If you do get bleeding in a quilt what about washing it with Oxyclean? That commercial where it shows blue dye disappearing? Or is there another product that would remove it?

I washed one set of charm squares and quickly regretted it.

They had shrunk almost 1/2 inch and I could no longer
use them for the planned project. I don't think I would wash......

I haven't had any experience with jelly rolls----YET!

I remember someone on here quite a while back that washed her jelly rolls. .....came out a HUGE mess. I would imagine so!

I don't wash mine, but when the quilt is done I wash it with a color catcher to get any ink.

Don't wash them. They will fray away.

I don't prewash fabrics at all. (Well, if there is a suspicious red or black I might test it as others have described.) However, I do take care to wash the quilt myself after it is done, using Synthrapol in the wash cycle.

Synthrapol is a chemical that suspends loose dye in water so it doesn't settle in other fabric and gets rinsed away in the wash water. It doesn't actually prevent a fabric from bleeding, but rather prevents the bleed from settling in to another fabric. It's a good idea to take a look at the wash water; if it is very colored, I would wash the quilt several times with Synthrapol to make sure all the loose dye is gone before drying.

Synthrapol is available in many quilt stores or online from places like Dharma Trading and ProChem. I have heard that clear Dawn liquid does the same thing, but have never had the courage to try it (not to mention that I never seemed able to find clear Dawn liquid -- maybe I have the wrong brand of liquid soap?).

If you don't have Synthrapol and you aren't sure about a quilt that is to be washed, you can throw in several of those color-catcher sheets that are widely available wherever laundry products are sold. I probably wouldn't trust them with a first washing if there was a suspicious fabric in the quilt, but otherwise I would feel free to use them. If they come out without color, you know you don't need to worry about colors bleeding in the future.

Retayne is a chemical used to set dyes in fabric. If you have a bleeder fabric you want to make safe for use in a quilt, you can wash it in Retayne. You would never[u] want to wash a finished quilt in Retayne, though, because any bleeds into other fabrics would become permanently set! Once you have a quilt with multiple fabrics in it, you want to wash in Synthrapol so that any unset dyes get washed away.

Hmmm.. Hope that was clear.

Oh, and to answer your original question, I would not wash a quilt in Oxyclean except as a last resort. Oxyclean is designed to remove organic stains and soils, whereas dyes these days are pretty much entirely chemical in nature. Also, I have gotten spots on some clothing fabrics from Oxyclean (similar to bleach spots) and fading on some clothing from Oxyclean even though it is supposed to be colorfast and seems to be colorfast on most fabrics.

Hi,

If you have a jelly roll and charm squares I am assuming they are from a qult shop, you shouldn't need to wash them.

I don't wash any of my QS fabrics before I sew them, and I have never ever had any trouble with shrinkage or bleeding. I haven't had issues with the quilts or runners afterwards either.

Bev

I also wouldn't use Oxyclean. I've had the same spotting and fading thing happen as Prism99 mentioned.