Washing fabric before cutting
 

I have a lot of fabric that I would like to cut into 2 1/2 " strips. Should I wash the fabric first or leave it like the precuts I purchase are.?

I don't prewash precuts, but I do wash my yardage before I start on a project. I know people who think I am silly and tell me that if I buy good material there is no need to prewash... but I still prewash yardage.. unless it is going to be used with precuts.

It all depends on if you are a prewasher. I'm not. I like the crispness of the new finish. Then I use Color catchers when I wash the finished quilt. If you are a prewasher, I would be prepared to iron and starch the fabric before I cut it into strips. I think strips are less forgiving of soft fabric that has been washed.

I'd leave it. These are pretty small squares and will work better with the precuts.

The only fabrics I prewash are batiks, I also starch any fabrics I'm going to be working with.

I always prewash if I can and thus buy few precuts. I don't like breathing in fabric dust with dye in it, so the more of it I can remove, the better. I wash twice with detergent and then dry. I have a few older fabrics that are outgassing anyway but I think I used to only wash once.!

I pretty much pre-wash everything due to contact allergy to sizing (my hands swell up) & the smell also will sometimes bother me if I have a bad migraine (the rest of the time, I don't think new fabric has a smell). Everything I buy, other than stamped wholecloth goes in the wash as soon as I get home. I was in cold water, Handwash or Gentle cycle & then will dry most of the way on Low heat & lay out or iron to dry the rest of the way. When I'm ready to use the fabric, I will iron & heavily starch it.

I do this for everything from 2.5" mini charms to 3 yard cuts. With good fabric, I find there is no discernible shrinkage & the only fabrics I worry about bleeding are batiks & non-commercially dyed fabrics. If you don't have allergies & don't anticipate the recipients will "abuse" the finished quilt in the laundry (i.e., wash it in hot water and/or tumble dry on medium or high heat), there really isn't a need to pre-wash LQS fabrics except for some batiks. It's a personal decision & you'll find as many people who do it the one way as the other.

I don't prewash but found that especially with batiks, you need to give the fabric a good pressing with a little starch before cutting.into strips

I pre-wash and dry to minimize the shrinkage in the finished project.
If you like that look, don't pre-wash.
I also iron and starch before I cut the pre-washed material.

If I was doing a wall hanging where it would not be washed, I wouldn't pre-wash.

Watson

I wash yardage but not pre-cuts. For that matter, I rarely use pre-cuts. IF I am mixing the two, I do not wash my yardage. I also leave my yardage in the quantity purchased until I am using it for whatever project. I'm just not creative enough to have a heap of x size pieces of fabric and then determine a pattern in which to use them.

If it's washable, I wash it before incorporating it into anything.

Had enough "surprises" to not trust ANY fabric from ANY manufacturer.

If you normally pre-wash, I'd say wash the yardage before cutting it, rather than washing cut strips, which will fray. I pre-wash everything. I'd rather have any shrinkage and running occur before the fabric is stitched into a quilt.

I'm a pre-washer too. I don't like surprises, and I also don't like handling fabrics that are full of unknown chemicals and (probably) pesticides. I don't currently have any sensitivities to these things, but sometimes these things are "bio accumulative" and you can BECOME sensitive. I figure the less chemicals I'm touching and breathing, the better.

What few pre-cuts I've purchased, I pre-washed but used a lingerie bag and tacked a few strips on the ends and middle to prevent tangling. I starched them lightly and ironed them by placing them on an old pillow case. I prefer to purchase yardage and cut my own, much less expensive and if they are off by measurements it's my fault and I can only be mad at myself.

I prewash before I cut. I don't like surprises after I have finished a quilt. My method is unusual. Don't know if anyone else does this. I don't like wrinkles and thread fraying--so--. I immerse the fabric in hot water and let it soak for a couple of hours. Then I rinse it as many times as necessary for the water to be clear. Finally, I hang the fabric over a line and let it dry. There is no ironing or fraying. The sizing and chemicals have been washed out. Some will believe soap is necessary or that tumbling in a dryer shrinks the fabric more--may be true. I won't argue, but this method works for me.

If unwashed fabric doesn't bother you I'd leave it. I prewash everything because if I work with unwashed, I get itchy hands and eyes and sneeze a lot. Must be the chemicals. I quit buying precuts for this reason and am trying to use them up.

eta: I never used to have a problem with the chemicals but started to in the last few years.

I wash batik fabrics. Don't have time with others as I use immediately I get home.

I came across a video on utube for prewashing precuts. She gently places them in water and uses a salad spinner to get excess water out, then dries them flat. I'm a relatively new quilter but I've had 3 fabrics that have bled unbelievably. I'd rather treat the fabric with Retayne than cross my fingers when something I've made hits the wash. The video is from SewVeryEasy in case I haven't done the link correctly.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=02S22-ri2EQ

I prewash everything that has x amount of cotton in it. Some fabs like cotton knits I will wash (and dry) twice before using it.

I have to prewash first as doctors orders since it has lots of formaldedyde in it and it makes my hands sore and cracked and also not good to breathe then instead of starch I spray and iron with fabric sizing and iron I also pick up the empty bots at fabric stores cut in half fold and store my fabric on that and works great for me

I launder ALL of my fabric - but that's me! I made a quilt for my DGD and didn't launder the fabric, and the red bled onto the other fabrics. After that - I decided that I would wash everything. It took FOREVER and ever, but - I'm (hopefully) caught up. Now, as soon as new fabric arrives, the first thing I do is launder it in warm or hot water and try it. If the fabric is red or black (especially), I'll wash it a couple of times with extra rinses.

for everyone like you meyert, there is another exactly opposite. Been doing a survey for a couple of years. Hard to get 4 or five people at a time to agree. But your reasoning is sound & safe. If you've every pieced a quilt back then washed the quilt & as you pull it from the washer you find thousands of threads where the quilt back used to be you will prewash more. I pretty much prewash everything, even the good stuff, 'cause I wanna know what it is gonna do before I give it to someone. But I have spray starch to make it behave when it comes out of the dryer!

I don't think I would wash if you have a lot of them and small pieces. They will ravel horribly and then you've got a big mess to fix.

I prewash to prevent any shrinkage after the quilt is made, and to check for any dye bleeding. Yes, that does happen even with expensive fabrics.

I used to pre-wash my fabric, iron it and store it. But I found that I liked working with unwashed fabric better and now I do not pre-wash. I do mix washed and unwashed because I have them. After I finish a quilt I wash with color catchers-just in case. I, obviously, can no longer see a difference in the fabrics used. I use good quality fabric and have never had problems. I sew for a charity group that provides materials (cheap as possible because of budget constraints). The difference is astounding. There are a lot of considerations to buying and using fabric. You do get what you pay for.

I'm sort of like quilterpurpledog--I used to pre-wash my fabric, iron it, and store it, but I now greatly prefer working with unwashed fabric better. That being said, I work with flannel a lot and always prewash my flannel so that it shrinks up as much as possible before I cut into it. When I DO pre-wash, I prewash everything--fabric AND batting.

I do not pre wash any fabric it seems easier to cut besides I do not like to iron or starch

Thank You all for your replies. This board always helps me with any problems that I have.

i wash my fabrics even wash muslin that just me and what my quilt teacher taught us

I don't buy pre-cuts. Only had 1 jelly roll given to me - I did not prewash.
I always prewash all fabrics I buy, fold and put in my big closet on wire shelves.
I never use starch.

I prewash all my fabrics, and I don't buy precuts. Being asthmatic, I prefer to be safe than sorry. Also, I've had the situation where the fabric I bought for a project bled horribly -- typically, a red fabric. I found a product online, Rit Dye Setter (I have no financial interest -- just happen to use the product) which is what I wash my fabrics in, starting with the lightest shade through the most intense vibrant colors. That effectively removes the chemicals that can cause problems. I prefer to adopt Murphy's Law when it comes to fabric dyes bleeding and fabrics shrinking. I also press my fabric before I cut. All I have to do is just consider the risk: All that work, money and time just flushed because failed to wash/set the dye. NO, I won't take that risk. As I understand it, the bleeding problem occurs because the fabric dyes used these days are chemical and not organic, and are much more prone to bleeding. I simply can't afford to take the financial risk of ruining a quilt. I don't sell quilts or make quilts for anyone else -- I make them for gifts, but I'm on a limited income, so I can't afford to risk messing up a gift.

For every project I either wash ALL of the yardage or I don't. If there are no worries about colors bleeding I tend to not prewash. If there are intense colors in the lot, I do a color test with Q-tips or a scrap of fabric in a hot water glass with detergent (generally a small piece will indicate if it's going to run). Then I make my decision. IF I prewashed all the fabric I tend to throw the finished quilt in the dryer with a damp tower to get the errand cat hairs off and freshen it up. IF I didn't prewash, I will wash the quilt with color catchers before gifting it. Better safe than sorry.

For every project I either wash ALL of the yardage or I don't wash any. If there are no worries about colors bleeding I tend to not prewash. If there are intense colors in the lot, I do a color test with Q-tips or a scrap of fabric in a hot water glass with detergent (generally a small piece will indicate if it's going to run). Then I make my decision. IF I prewashed all the fabric I tend to throw the finished quilt in the dryer with a damp tower to get the errand cat hairs off and freshen it up. IF I didn't prewash, I will wash the quilt with color catchers before gifting it. Better safe than sorry.

I'm not a 100% prewasher. Most of the time I don't but if I'm using some fabrics like red, etc that could run, I was them. I only prewash flannel if the shrinkage will effect my project, like in a rag quilt it won't hurt. If I were making pj's then I'd wash them. I wouldn't wash precuts even though I've seen those who do. If you don't think any of you fabric that you are cutting will fade then don't worry about it. My thinking is; when you go to a class where everything is included, you know the ones holding that class didn't wash and iron all of that fabric. Yes, you could get some fading or shrinkage but so far I've been lucky just sticking to my rules. I do also prewash batiks.