Should I prewash fat eighths?
 

I generally prewash fat quarters and larger. I'm now about to open 2 packs of fat eighths (which I've never used before) and not sure if I should prewash. One reason for wanting to prewash is because all of my smaller leftover pieces are prewashed and ready to use in future quilting projects. Whatever is left over in my fat eighth project will also be used in future "scrappy" projects and at this point will be too small to prewash. And I don't want to mix prewashed and not prewashed in one project. But I do want to prewash to shrink down a little and to get out some of the dark colors. I just don't want to shrink down too much or lose a bunch because of raveling or have it turn into a wonky shape that can't be straightened. Any thoughts?

I soak smaller pieces in the sink in hot water and lay over the shower rod to dry, would something like that work for those?

I agree with Thimble. Prewash. Do you have a salad spinner? That's what I use to prewash small pieces.

I would. Perhaps it would be easiest to put the fat 8ths into a garment bag and wash them in the washing machine. I would think the lingerie bag would keep them from being thrown around in the machine too much.

I would.

If your washer will allow you - i soak and wash and rinse the pieces in my kitchen sink - then I carry the wet pieces to my washing machine and set it to "spin" to get most of the moisture out.

For drying, one can lay the pieces on a towel, hang on a drying rack,, hang on a line,, or dry in a dryer..

i overcast the edges before washing- even relatively small pieces.

I prewash my fat eighths. I either zig zag or notch the edges to minimize fraying and wash as usual.

Thanks for the tip about edges on the fat quarters when washing. I have never done that but am certainly going to do it from now on.

I prewash mine, I wash mine in the sink and put them in the washer on "spin" and it works great.

Yes do prewash. I prewash everything. Do as the ones above stated.

I think your fabrics will shrink if you wash them in the washer. I just get a bowl of warm water with a little soap and swish the fabrics around and rinse out and line dry

Before reading this thread, I would have said no, but I love the salad spinner idea.

my go to technique for washing smaller pieces is to serge the edges and throw in the washing machine and dryer...yep...I know I will lose some fabric but mot likely to be much more than what I would lose anyway by straightening the edges. I get a bit leary of gentle means of prewashing, cuz, I'm not sure if that method would shrink or test the colorfastness of a regular washing machine. I usually toss in a few of those color sheets in the wash too. If there is a lot of color on them, I will rewash and not use the fabric if warranted.

Thank you for all your responses. I like the idea of the salad spinner, but with about 70 fat eighths I don't have the patience. I ended up putting them in the washer on gentle and then the dryer. They did ravel a bit more than I hoped they would but it really isn't a big deal. It's not like like lost inches of fabric. Now to iron them all . . . .