ridiculous shrinkage - what am I doing wrong?
 

Before I started this quilt, I did NOT pre-wash the fabric. My cousin, a long time quilter made me promise not to. I DID however pre-shrink the batting (got it soaking wet, pushed out as much water as I could then put it in a warm dryer)

The quilt started out 96" x 96" I admit that when I initially put it on the bed, I didn't measure it to know how much it "shrunk" from the quilting.

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Now that it's been washed (I needed to get the remaining blue lines out) - the seams sit in a different spot on the bed, so I did measure it. 89" on the one side, I didn't measure the other side.

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That's roughly 8% shrinkage. That's more than the 3% I expected from the batting even if it wasn't preshrunk.

Then I made a placemat with some of the left over fabrics and did not preshrink the batting. I quilted it, hated my quilting, ripped it all out, then quilted it again. I washed it to get the old needle holes out.

It went from 19.5" x 13.5" to 16.5" x 11.5" - roughly 18% shrinkage. (Previously, it had fit the laptop table it's sitting on)

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I do know that I can take these out of the dryer early and stretch and pin them back to their size, or close to it, like a show quilt, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could or should have done differently to minimize the shrinkage to begin with.

I prewash everything, all my fabric with the exceptions of sythetics you know won't shrink.

I think maybe I will do that next time. I have a problem with "Forgot-the-laundry-itis" but I will certainly try to do that next time.

This was Arctic White - supposedly a 100% cotton (what it said on the label in large print but in the fine print it said it was 13% poly scrim!) which is why I preshrunk to begin with. The placemat was a chunk of something I had left, it could have been almost anything cotton or cotton poly blend.

Tessagin, I agree. I usually do but when my cousin made me promise, I thought it would be fine. ;) These are all batiks too, so I really thought the tighter weave would hold its size a little better.

OK, I figured out some of the shrinkage on the placemat - I used a muslin back. I bet the muslin shrunk up a heck of a lot more than the rest. I guess in theory, the backing could have done this on the quilt too, right?

Do you have any of the muslin left that is unwashed?

If yes, you could measure a piece of it "before" - soak it in hot water and let it dry on a towel or hang it if you don't want to put it in a dryer - iron it - and then measure it "after."

You could do the same thing with cold water - just for comparison purposes.

If you do, let us know the results.

I have had "pre-shrunk" muslin shrink a LOT!!!!!

Why in the world would your cousin NOT want you to wash the fabrics before cutting them?

I wash EVERYTHING dunkable before cutting it now.

I had a polyester double knit shrink about four inches in length - and it was only about a yard long to begin with. It was yellow - which has nothing to do with anything - but I remember it well, because I was very surprised that it shrank that much.

I measured hundreds of pieces before and after washing them to check for shrinkage. Some (a very few) did not change size, some shrank maybe an inch or two in length or width, some shrank over two inches in width and/or length per yard.

I am not able to tell - just by looking - how a fabric will behave once it is submerged in water and dried again.

PS - Very nice quilt and pillow covers.

In something on the order of 20 years of quilting, I had never run across that batting name. Googled it, but didn't find anything that gave shrinkage on it. I think if you were to switch to a more widely known brand of cotton batting you would be much happier.

Although muslin can shrink a lot on its own, once it's quilted to a batting the shrinkage of the batting takes over. A lot of quilters use unwashed muslin and don't get 18% shrinkage; however, few quilters seem to use thie Arctic Cotton brand of batting and it's easy to see it shrank a lot. Hard to believe you pre-shrank it too!

Edit: In a class I took, Harriet Hargrave passed around a flannel quilt she had made without pre-washing any of the flannel or the batting. It was fine! She had used Hobbs 80/20 batting. I honestly think your problem was caused by the batting.

Did Ms. Hargrave give details about how she washed the flannel quilt?

Now, I can see why someone would make you promise to PREWASH it, but I have no idea someone would care so much about not washing...especially batiks that are notorious for running. I also prewash everything and have been quilting for over 20 years. So maybe I can make you promise to wash next time? hehe.. It came out lovely, it's too bad it shrunk so much for you. Remember, that quilting does take up the quilt too and the more you quilt does help to draw it up.

Why is it that most women think they are somehow at fault, could have, should have, might have done something wrong, different, etc.? The truth is that the fabric should not shrink that much and neither should the batting. You should not have to go to the extra expense, time and trouble of preshrinking modern fabric.

And I am not going to do so. I will just have to make everything 10 percent bigger to start with and then let 'er shrink! froggyintexas

That is a lot of shrinkage. Did you perhaps wash in hot water or a hot dryer?? I only wash I cold or warm and air dry. Otherwise don't have a clue what the issue could be.. How frustrating!

Washing machine and dryer.

I should add that she measured the quilt before washing and drying, and again afterwards. It shrank about 3% -- what would be expected from the shrinkage of the batting.

I only prewash if I think the color may bleed. I test it before washing. I use starch/spray and iron the fabric before cutting. The steam and heat will shrink the fabric if it is going to shrink.
About batting, I never pre shrink batting. I wouldn't use it if I had to. Scrim is a good thing for cotton batting, keeps the batting from shredding. There are too many sites online that will inform you of everything you need to know about batting. Many think bamboo is the miracle fiber for batting, it's not. Many think the label of 100% cotton won't have scrim, it does.

I grow a few cotton plants in my yard to use for stuffing for small projects. It's as natural and as organic as you can get but it would make a horrible batting.

I prewash all fabrics. I don't want any surprises in shrinking or color bleeding onto a project I spend time and money doing. I only use quality cotton batting though.

I have only had one quilt do that to me, and it had a muslin backing.

I agree that one should not need to do anything with the fabric after one brings it home.

Especially the need to use Retayne and/or Synthrapol on commerically dyed fabrics. Or why one should need to starch it to get to have enough body.

I think many of us have developed a routine for what we feel works for us -

I wash for one main reason: to avoid having problems later on with the fabrics I am using - it is much easier for me to find out if what I have has bad manners up front - than trying to rescue or salvage an already made item.

Been there - done that. Way too much of a hassle for me.

Temperature of water? cycle used? heat/cycle of the dryer?

you know that even with just the quilting it does draw up your quilt and it can measure smaller than before it was quilted then with washing and that shrinkage it just all adds up . It does always surprise me also how much

Did all of the batiks come from the same manufacturer? If so, they might be the problem.

that IS a lot of shrinkage! that's why i'm a prewasher.

I pre-wash everything and dry it in the dryer. I like to wash my fabrics before I use them because if they are going to shrink or the color run, I want it done before I use it in a quilt. I also preshrink my batting. I prefer Warm and Natural. I soak it in the washer in hot water but do not let it agitate. then I just spin it out and put it in the dryer. After I make a quilt, when I wash it, I do not put in the dryer. I line dry all my quilts. You will have some shrinkage but not as much if you line dry them. That is just my preference.

bearisgray - I do have the muslin left. I bought it for the purposes of practicing with "no guilt" on the frame. I will try the test you mention and let people know. I looked again at the placemat. The muslin is almost flat, and the front looks like a parachute. I'm starting to think it's at least partly the muslin in this case. I'm tempted to remove the binding to see what the batting looks like at the edges.

I'm not sure why she made me promise that, but I know that next time I think I'll just fib to her! I also have found that I have really irritated the eczema on my fingers over the last couple of months while working with this stuff (and chalk) - it may not be a coincidence that I don't usually have to worry about it with my prewashed fabrics. The only fabrics I don't wash are when the pattern says "prewashing not recommended" like in the case of the Stonehenge Aphrodite border fabrics I was using. Other than that, it all gets a welcome home bath.

I think I might just go accidentally drop the rest of those batiks into the washer. ;)

Prism99 - This was a batting that one of the quilt shops was carrying. It was their cotton offering. I bought it about a year ago, and didn't "know any better". I thought it would be "OK". I'm sure glad I didn't buy more of it.

I kept the wrap for the batting, it's what tells me 1 - 5% shrinkage, and 12% poly propylene. (I had misremembered the 13% and the 3%)

I'm guessing the part in the red area is why there's not a lot of info online for it.

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I can only wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't preshrunk!

Candace - *Hand over heart!* I promise! Now and forever I will pre-wash from now on! ;) I lived in fear of that dark blue running! I threw 2 color catchers (my Canadian contraband!) in and they came out indigo, but I think that was the backing which was roughly indigo but darker. The batiks showed no sign of running, luckily! I did know it would draw up some with the quilting, but when I put it on the bed, there was maybe an inch on each side of the white showing on the bed at the sides. Today, there's closer to 4 inches on each side. When it was a flimsy, the white ran to the edge of the mattress.

FroggyinTexas - I assumed it was me because I've been quilting less than 18 months and this was my first time not prewashing, preshrinking batting, and doing a quilt this big. I was positive in that cocktail of new experiences I'd learned a lesson but didn't know what it was yet. :D I love your idea of making it bigger and letting it shrink!

Jeanne S - At worst, it would have been warm wash, cold rinse and a warm dryer. That's how I preshrunk the batting too, so it would "understand" when real life hit it.

OnebyOne - Nowadays, I do understand that the cotton requires a "framework" to sit on. I was frustrated at the time though that the label makes it look to a rank newbie (which I was) like it's 100% cotton. I thought someone had figured out how to do a stable cotton batting without pop bottles. It was my fault for not reading the small print. I still don't like how 88% = 100% in advertising land.

debbiemarie - looking at this placemat, I'm really thinking the muslin was at least partially responsible, like you mention.

AngeliaNR - 2 of the 3 batiks were from TrendTex, I'm not sure of the manufacturer though. The dark blue.... uh... it was a Fabricland fabric. Shhhh! Don't tell! ;) I'd sworn off their fabrics, but the color was so lovely. I tried to leave it in the store 3 times before I finally gave in and took it home.

QuiltnNan - shrinkage was never my reason for prewashing, but it sure is a reason I'll do it now!

Learn and live!

I haphazardly prewash so most of what I make has a mixture of some prewashed some not. I use Warm and Natural/White in all the things I make which also has a scrim that is not cotton. I wash everything after it is done in warm water and detergent to get rid of the glue I used in basting and dry it in the dryer. I throw in a couple of color catchers for good measure but rarely do they come out with any significant amount of color on them and shrinkage is not a problem I don't think not prewashing is the answer to your problem. My guess would be either the batting but more likely the muslin.

I just had the same thing. The batting was some I tried from Connecting Threads, but I don't think it was the cause as I used it for some wall hangings with no problem.

I might just have used something called "Quilter's Cotton" from Hancock Fabrics. I haven't had good cottons shrink, but from now on cheap ones will get prewashed. I wash in cold water, and the quilt was dried on low.

I've never had permanent press Muslin shrink. I made shirts with it years ago, and they are still the same size. The muslin that really shrinks is the 36" wide variety. It's mostly for crafts and fitting muslins for dressmaking. It's cheap enough that you can make many trial fittings of a bodice and throw out the fittings that didn't work.

Either prewash EVERYTHING you use in the quilt, or prewash NOTHING, so all have approximately same amount of shrinkage.

I don't prewash anything and I've never had that much shrinkage. I dry mine on low heat or even line dry.

It is not your quilt top....from your placemat photo. You can tell that your fabrics for the top did not shrink hardly at all, due to the puckering. The batting looks to have shrunk. Did you use the same muslin on the quilt? If not, then it is definitely your batting. BTW your quilt is beautiful! I use muslin in quilted jackets that contain no batting...I prewash the Batiks but not the muslin...on purpose. I quilt the batik to the muslin, then wash in hot water and dry on hot to get the quilted look without the bulk of batting. (I live in Texas) the muslin shrinks the batik to look as though it is quilted with batting. However, in your photo, it does look like the batting has shrunk. Interesting that the paper states clearly on the front "no prewashing required". Really? I would test that batting with two quilt fabrics to see if it is the batting....then never buy it again.

I always pre-shrink and if I'm making a quilt as a gift, I tell the recipient to wash in cold water and dry on low setting.

Weezy Rider - You bring up a good point. The muslin I bought was never intended (by me) to be washed, or at least not that I would care. I was going to use it to practice then bind it and use it for dog blankets. If it scrunched up on subsequent washings, it really didn't matter. It was certainly not the highest quality muslin to begin with.

Lady Diana - The placemat was muslin, the quilt was a 108" wide backing from a quilt shop, so definitely 2 different backs.

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The batting in the placemat might not have been the Arctic Cotton. I don't really know what it was, it was just some left over something or other from a batch of charity quilts or something.

It's possible it was AC, but I suspect it wasn't. I think that's why I assumed that I had done something wrong. If the backing, batting and only some of the top fabrics were in common, and even the quilting was two different styles - I was the main constant in the equation. ;)

I don't know that I have any AC left. I will definitely try what you mentioned if I do, but I don't recall now if it's technically prewashed either. LOL!

Your quilt is beautiful and it definitely has your furry friend's approval. I don't think I've ever seen anything shrink so much. I belong to the wash it before you use it school, with few exceptions, but even then I've never seen fabric shrink that much. It's a shame you had such a problem exist especially after all your hard work.

I have been quilting for about 5 years now and every piece of fabric and/or batt that comes through my door gets washed and dried before cutting. Too much shrinkage and I have found sometimes the batt doesn't shrink at the same rate as the fabric. I know when I finish a quilt it will remain the same size.

I don't prewash anything and normally use Hobbs 80/20 batting, wash and dry in the dryer and I have never had anything shrink like that.

I have found that BATIKS always shrink. Maybe your cousin likes the look of a quilt with some shrinkage. When using batiks, I would never put them into a quilt without pre washing them first the same goes for the dryer. Quilts and quilters are the same, they are ALL different. So sorry for your problems.

I don't prewash anything and I've never seen that sort of shrinkage. Heck, on average, my shrinkage is less than 3%.

If you have a skin problem, unwashed fabric will cause havoc. Ask me I know! This is why everything that I wear or sew with is washed before I use it. Batiks are infamous for bleeding, which is why people on this board who don't prewash, many will prewash batiks. Why did your cousin insist that you not wash your fabric? If she knows batiks, I am surprised she told you not to prewash. Next time you make a quilt, just throw the fabrics in the washer and dryer. That way you know BEFORE you go to all the time and effort to make a quilt, that the fabrics won't run or do any other nasty problem. But if you do have skin problems like I do, prewashing isn't a choice, it's just something that I have to do to use fabric. It really isn't that big of a deal. When you get the fabric home,take it to the laundry room, and throw it in the washer. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to put it in the washing machine,then put it in the dryer and when you take out the fabric, it's ready to be used.Easy.

Interesting article. I see I need to pay more attention to batting and using muslin.

MargeD - boy, you're not kidding. I have a hard time keping both of the girls off the quilt! I should say at this point, I'm not disappointed with the way the quilt looks as a whole, mostly I'm surprised because I thought I did most of it right to minimize shrinkage. I'm certainly not upset to see the quilt. :)

Bubbie - batiks shrink for you? Most of the batiks I've seen in my very limited time quilting have all puckered when everything around them shrunk but they didn't. That's really interesting that they shrink for you! It's possible she likes the shrunken look. I supposed I should have asked her why before I followed her recommendation.

Quilter2090 - I think, like you, my new mantra is wash as it enters the house. My cousin, like me, loves batiks, so she's very familiar with they way they behave as a rule. I can only guess at why she didn't want me to wash them first. I will ask her the next time I see her.I have a printout of the fabrics I have, and whether they're washed or not. I think I will try to make sure that all of it is washed in the next week or so- especially that muslin! Luckily I don't have the stash that a lot of people have!