For those with a long arm
 

How often do you wash your leaders? And when do you replace them?

My leaders are printed not to get them wet. I supposed they could be dry cleaned. They get dusty but not really dirty, so I haven’t thought about replacing them.

I haven't had to wash mine, I think they don't really get very dirty and so I don't see a need ...yet...
I made mine from a heavy muslin. I think I would consider replacing them if they began to be unstable (i.e. stretched in places) or if they seemed to shift. I use Leadergrips with mine as well vs pinning, so maybe if you pin that might make a difference? I can't say, just posing it as a thought that may affect wear...

I have a sit down, so no leaders to worry about.

I'm not sure but I think she might mean they need washing because they are stretched out of shape. Washing brings them back from what I hear. Mine are stretched now and probably need to be replaced rather than washed.

I wouldn't consider washing them. The canvas they're made of would probably shrink and might not hold its shape that well.

I replaced my leaders once, after I moved from OR to CA. They had been wrapped around the poles during the move and got pretty dirty. If not for that, I would not have replaced them.

The Leaders on my Gammill are made of canvas, so would probably shrink if they were washed. They still look like new after 20 years. I figure if a person takes care of them, they should stay clean and not need washing.

I washed a set, and it shrunk very badly. The bad thing about that is that the Velcro didn't shrink, so it turned into a puckered mess that couldn't be used.

Mine are also heavy canvas but I’ve only had my my LA about a year so I’m hoping not to have to replace them for quite sometime.

I’ve never washed mine. They were replaced once- but only because I purchased a new ( upgraded) machine, table everything and it all came with new ones. I still have the old ones- they were about 15 years old and there’s nothing wrong with them. The new ones are 6-7 years old now and they are still like new.

Mine are still clean and not stretched after quilting several hundred quilts over the past 7 years, see no need to wash them or replace them. Pinning has had no effect on them. If the need arose I would just replace rather than wash them.

Bingo! Yes I should have clarified! But, FYI I did wash mine in cold water with Woolite, and dried on the lowest cool setting and they came out fantastic, no shrinkage and nice and straight again. I have the HandiQuilter Super Leaders and I pin my quilts. I’ve tried and was not a fan of the Red Snappers, and not a fan of zippers either.

I have never washed mine and don't think I ever will...will replace if they stretch too badly....I do try and put a big quilt on every now and then to help put them back into shape.....if I put too many small quits on, they do seem to stretch a bit in the middle....I always pin my quilts on using the center mark....I have had mine 8-9 years but only quilt for myself....I have done about 54 quilts on my set-up now....

I bought a used longarm. I washed the leaders. They needed washing. I had to pull the Velcro off, press the leaders, then I sewed the Velcro back on and trimmed the excess 6” of Velcro that didn’t shrink as much as the leaders. Then, I went out and bought new leaders .

I just realized, I don't use the measurements on the leaders anyway so if they shrink it's not life altering. I use a center line mark and that's it. Once you roll the quilt the measurements get covered up so I've always just used a 120" tape measure.

I was told by my dealer not to wash the leaders. They will shrink. However, Kimmyquilts has an awesome tutorial on how to straighten out-of-kilter leaders here: http://www.kimmyquilt.com/straighten...ur-leaders.htm

I used this method on my old frame and it worked perfectly!

That's a great explanation/tutorial! Thanks for sharing.

I washed mine once after spot cleaning caused spot shrinkage and wrinkling. So I figured I may as well wash them in hot water to get all the shrinkage out of the way. They did shrink alot, they are canvas (Gammill). Ironing the wrinkles out of them was a huge, huge job, not easy to get wrinkles out of heavy canvas. i thought I'd never get done ironing them. But now that they are clean, if I do get a spot, I can spot clean them and not worry.