One of the few people that has actually experimented!
:thumbup:

I love to experiment. What am I going to try to destroy tomorrow? :XD:

I've had inexpensive fabric shrink a lot. I've had inexpensive fabric shrink hardly at all.

I've had expensive fabric shrink a lot. I've had expensive fabric shrink barely at all.

I measure fabric before and after washing it.

By the way, I've gotten "good quality" fabric both inexpensively and expensively.

Just wondering - how many of those that "never wash" measure their quilts before and after washing?

(I'm just sooooooooooooooo tired of all the comments about the chain stores poor fabric quality. Some of it is. Much of it is decent. It's up to the buyer to know what's suitable and what isn't.)

Personally I never prewash my fabric. I like the "pucker" I get when it's washed after quilting. I just put it in on cold with a Color Catcher in the wash and haven't had an issue yet.

But like everyone else....it's personal preferance. :)

I do wash mine, but everyone has their own opinion on it!

I agree it is personal preference. I just always wash everything pretty much as soon as I bring it in the house. That way I don't have to think about.

When I'm going to cut, I use spray starch to stiffen it up. I just spray it and throw it in the dryer, then a quick touch up with the iron and I'm ready to cut.

I agree! You have no idea how many chemicals and how much dirt is in that lovely "fresh" looking fabric.

Since I'm a pre-washer I treated myself to a pinking rotory blade (on sale). It saves me a whole lot of mess and, in the end, the loss of fabric and warping because of threads pulling and tangling in the process is better. (I experiment too.) I have to agree with bearisgray on the fabric comment. I have found there is a lot of variation.

It used to be that fabrics were washed to remove the formaldehyde from the fabric used in processing it. However, the "finish" used on fabrics, now, are not harmful and do not necessarily need to be washed out. When doing foundation piecing, it is often helpful to have the fabric new and unwashed. Shrinkage is also not an issue if using cotton batting as both the fabric and batting will shrink about 3%. Shout Color Catcher can be used with any fabrics that may fade. It is, ultimately, a matter of personal preference.

The packaging on Quilter's Dream batting said it shrank only 1%.

I had a Michael Miller fabric shrink over two inches in width. Assuming 44 inches in original width, that's over 4% shrinkage.

If this was a quilt 100 inches long - the batting would shrink 1 inch and the fabric would shrink over 4 inches.

Whatever works for you.

By the way, some sources say there is a tiny bit of formaldehyde in Retayne.