Question for prewashers
 

Up til now I have been among the unwashed, but am realizing that my nose constantly runs when I am sewing, so I must have an allergy type of thing going on. So, how you prepare your fabrics for washing? Do you use your normal soap and the regular cycle? How do you keep the washer from becoming unbalanced? Do you always use the color sheets? Do you put towels or a sheet in with the fabric? I know that raveling is a thing..how do you minimize that? Will appreciate any tips! Thanks!

I do it different ways depending on the yardage. FQ's get tossed into the laundry tub with soap and hot water. Doesn't take too long to tell if it's going to bleed. Larger pieces go into the washer. Depending on the fabric, I will clip the corners or stitch the edge. Sometimes I just toss without worrying about it. I always use color catchers in the machine. I do my pieces one at a time, watching the water, and do it by color, light to dark. Honestly, I've never had a problem with the machine being unbalanced. If there was bleeding, I always go for a second round, and once in a while I need a third round. For me it's definitely worth it, because I usually react to fabric that hasn't been washed. I've never used a towel or sheet while pre washing.

Lots of questions to answer, lol, but they're good ones.

I am a weird one. I like to hand wash my fabrics up to three yards, after that, they go into the washer. I use warm water, no matter what the color and I use Dawn dishwashing liquid, unless I'm using the washer, then it's my regular detergent. When I hand wash, I feel like I have more control over things and I can really see if there's just a little bit of color bleed, or if there's a lot, so I can make a decision while I'm washing if I'm going to use the fabric or not.

When I hand wash, everything is hung up on my line to dry, then when it's almost dry but still a little damp, I take a hot iron to it and finish the drying on my ironing board. If it's dark colors, I usually use a piece of Muslin under it so I can tell if the bleeding is still going on or not, if it is, then I wash it again. If I used the washer, it goes in the dryer but I pull it out just before it's done and iron it as if I hand washed it.

I don't use the color catching sheets, it's crossed my mind many times but I always seem to forget to pick them up when I'm shopping. One of these days, I might remember them, but I always strongly recommend whoever is getting my quilt that they use the color catchers and I always gift them with a bottle of Restore when I hand the quilt over. That way if they forget to use the color catcher and the quilt bleeds, they've got a quick fix with the Restore.

As for the raveling, it's just a simple fix with a pair of pinking shears, the ones that give you the crisp, sharp points are the best ones to use. I do have the pinking blade for my rotary cutter and used it once before I washed some fabric, but it didn't do a great job at stopping the ravel and I had to spend a few minutes cutting the long strings off of my fabric. I use the pinking blade for other sewing jobs, but for quilting, I like my heavy pinking shears the best.

I don't always pre-wash it mostly depends on the fabric. Blacks, dark blues, purples and red are the ones that I take the time to prewash. I always pre-wash swap fabrics too. I put yardage evenly around the washer and have yet to have a problem. Stitching the ends would be a good idea that I will now consider to prevent raveling. Great Idea. I usually cut all the raveling off after I was the fabric. I don't routinely put my fabrics in the dryer. I hang them to dry. Then I press them. Every one has a slightly different way to pre-wash the end results are what matter.

I mainly make quilts that hopefully will be used well. So, I just wash them on my regular laundry setting with my regular detergent. This means I wash them on the "warm" setting as my cold water is very cold. Then, gasp....I throw them in my dryer which now is on the "cotton" setting, I do have a cool down feature and find I do not get many wrinkles. Then I press with a hot iron. I do "sort of" separate my colors into roughly Darks and Lights, although if I am using red or very dark fabrics, I will try and just wash them with like colors, I do use color catchers and if they come out a light color, I don't worry about it, If the color catchers come out very dark, I do and will rewash the fabric again. If the color catcher is still dark...umm...I begin to consider if I want to keep washing the fabric until the color catcher is light or do I just want to not use the fabric at all. I had a large amount of a dark red that I washed four times and still had a significant amount of color on the catcher I ended up using something else for the backing and putting that fabric in a garage sale for something like $4 for all 6 yards of fabric and a note that said "warning, not colorfast". As to what I wash the fabric with...well, if it is a small amount, I will wash it with my regular cloths. I do try and wash more than one thing in the washer, it is a top loader and I like to sort of balance the amount of material around the agitator. I do not always wash my fabrics before using if I know they are good quality fabrics and not likely to bleed or shrink much. But I do like to wash the ones I am not sure of as I do want the fabric to shrink, or bleed, or whatever before I spend the time making a quilt. Oh, and I do use unsented laudry detergent and no fabric softners.

I only buy yardage so no small pieces (FQ's or such) to deal with. If I have small yardage pieces that are not red, I will toss those in with my regular laundry. If I have large yardage pieces I just make a load of those sorted roughly by colors (light/dark). Red I do tend to wash by itself. Never use color catchers. Normal detergent; warm water; permanent press setting. Then toss in the dryer. Yes, I have to trim the strings but, oh well. Then iron with a hot iron and starch.

I pre-wash almost everything, the exceptions being pre-cuts and fabrics that will probably be used in OBW's. I use hot water, regular laundry detergent (mine is unscented), and I don't worry about raveling. I generally keep lights separate from darks. If it ravels, I pull or cut off the offending threads. I don't use color catchers unless there's a fabric that I'm particularly worried about. It all goes in the dryer, high heat. I used to press fabric after it came out of the dryer, but now I usually just fold it onto comic book boards (if yardage) and press it when I'm ready to use it. I started doing this within a month or two after I started quilting, so my stash is ready to use when I need it.

I prewash FQs and larger. I serge the cut edges first - it keeps things a lot neater.

Wash on "express wash" with warm water and my normal detergent.

Tumble dry on medium until damp dry, then I hang dry on a drying rack for the last bit. This results in less wrinkling/creasing than letting the fabric dry all the way in the dryer, which makes pressing go quicker.

Oh gosh, I thank you all for your detailed and thoughtful answers, and yes, I loaded this with questions, didn’t I!! 😬 All of your advice sounds very reasonable and doable, so I am convinced that I will begin doing this. I may even start through my stash of yardage and make loads of darks and lights to get started on it. I don’t remember having such a nose problem in past years. I wonder if the chemicals have changed, or I have just built up an intolerance to the dust! I always wash my finished quilts before gifting, with the chemicals in mind, but for some reason never thought about my reaction to them. Thank you all again for taking time to respond and being so helpful!

I pre-wash everything; smaller pieces I wash and rinse by hand, machine spin in a garment bag and hang to dry. I used to zig zag fabric edges before washing, but now I notch the edges in a couple of places instead. This doesn't prevent all of the fraying, but it controls it somewhat. I add a small amount of Woolite liquid to the load and dry on a delicate setting (just because that setting works better on our dryer). I always lay out the fabric somewhere for a while, in case it is not completely dry. I snip off the worst frays and hand press and fold the fabric until I'm ready to use it.

https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/upl...edingquilt.pdf

Read from the beginning through the very last paragraph -

It is all relevant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I always prewash, using normal laundry detergent and the short cycle, then the dryer on full heat. Hey, these quilts are going to be laundered that way going forward!

I have not had any trouble with raveling the edges with good quality quilt cottons, or flannels. I have even laundered fat quarter packs using the gentle cycle in the washing machine.

I know you are asking about the fabric - but I get a runny nose when I'm sewing but I think it's thread lint. Thought it might be something for you to consider.
Admittedly I'm not a prewasher, so I didn't consider it being the fabric.

I prewash all fabrics as soon as I bring them home. I use cold water tide for everything I wash. 2 or 3 yards I dry separately on low and dry them until dry. I lay on dining table smooth fold smooth then fold them using a 6x24" ruler and smooth as I fold. When I am ready to use them only the fold really need to be pressed.

I don't buy any precuts.

My washer keeps machine balanced.

I never prewashed until I started doing appliqué. Now I wash everything but precuts. I just throw it in with a load o clothes but in a sweater bag to limit fraying. I have an old singer pinker that I think I will begin using thanks to an earlier poster. Thanks for the idea!

I'm a sometimes yes, sometimes no, prewasher. A lot depends on the fabric and what I'm doing with it. If its for a wall hanging that most likely will never get washed, I don't bother. Quilts, maybe. Clothing, always if it's washable. I usually serge the ends of the yardage to keep it from raveling. I hate the mess.

I've never had my machine unbalance with fabric. Most just with heavy rugs.

I’m thinking it is probably the lint bothering me also, which I am hoping that washing the fabric may help...maybe not. Hmmm...I am between quilts at the moment, so maybe I will experiment with washing up some fabrics to make a simple baby quilt and see what happens. Will report back!
Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and tips!

No mention of batiks. I prewash those separate because I'm afraid of their dye running. I separate lights and darks to prewash. Just started storing on mag boards and don't iron until use.
Note: I just bought a bunch of pieces of solid fabric (back into applique). Tide pod's colors (bluish and greenish) stained my lavender piece. Washed it again by itself in hot, but no change. Now I will add pods in first, not last, and am searching for new detergent!