My wife has just taken up quilting, making lap quilts, but she has yet to find a wadding available in the UK which she likes. Can anyone advise her on what's best for machine quilting, that doesn't require pre-washing and that doesn't produce tiny balls of wadding on the reverse side of the quilt. Thanks.

Welcome! We have many members from the UK who will be able to advise you.

I'm not in the UK, but I thought I'd share my thought about batting--
My all time favorite is Hobbs wool. It's on the pricey side, but it quilts beautifully. I have a flannel quilt with wool batting on my bed that gets laundered regularly and have not had any problems. There was a tiny bit of shrinkage when it was laundered the first time, but not much. I also like Hobbs 80/20 and I use it often. I don't pre-wash or pre-soak any of the batting I use. The little bit of shrinkage isn't a bother to me. I kind of like the old fashioned look. I launder my quilts in a washing machine with cold water and I dry them in the dryer on a regular setting.

Thanks for that. I think we can get Hobbs in the UK.

Welcome, From the USA.

Wadding in your country and Batting in ours just to make things clear are one and the same. 8-)

Thanks for that. My wife did tell me.

I just checked the price of Hobbs Wool in the UK and that's way too expensive unfortunately.

there are more UK members who will come and help soon i'm sure.

Hobbs and Quilter's Dream are among the best brands. Hobbs 80/20 is one of my favorites. When I Googled, it looks as if both these brands are available in the UK.

Quilter's Dream cotton (needlepunched, but not through scrim) is a very stable cotton batting that will not "beard". Hobbs 80/20 has more loft, whereas the QD gives a flatter, more traditional look. Both shrink up to 3%, which is what is typical for a traditional "crinkled" look. Neither of these battings requires pre-washing.

If your wife does not want the batting to shrink at all, and does not want to pre-wash batting, then she would need to stick with polyester. A disadvantage of polyester battings is that they slip and slide more in the quilt sandwich. I personally prefer 80 to 100% cotton in my battings, without scrim, because cotton gets softer and softer with every washing. If your wife wants a polyester batting, I've heard that both Hobbs polydown and Quilter's Dream poly get good ratings.

Welcome to the board from Southern California!

Hi and welcome to the board from Iowa.