Is it a must to wash all fabric before making quilts? I do some but others I don't. What is your thinking on this.

I think its a good idea, just because you never know if something may shrink or bleed. Some do, some dont, I just am really cautious!

this is a long discussion as some prefers to pre wash and others don't

almost nothing in quilting is a "must".

i used to be fanatically against prewashing. then i started buying fancier fabrics at higher prices. wouldn't you know it? the color from one of them (a red) rubbed off onto another while it was still in the drawer. another (a blue) bled like a stuck pig when i washed the finished quilt.

both of those fabrics were selling for $9 per yard in quilt shops!

in all but two cases, no fabrics shrink on me by more than "a tadbit" unless they are of the type sold in quilt shops.

so ... as crazy at it sounds ... the more i pay for a fabric, the more likely i am to prewash it.

go figure. :roll:

I don't prewash anything. Been successful. Once had to replace a binding. I don't mind handwork so no big deal.

I have the quilt dry cleaned the first time if there are real darks and light lights together, and or if the quilt is going to ge a special one. They don't seem to bleed or shrink that way.

For me it depends on what i'm using it for, I tend to prewash baby stuff & the reds that could bleed. but if it is part of a pre-packaged kit I don't. I have listened to the arugment for both sides and really don't see a difference. Shout Color Catchers are great so if i don't have to I like to just wash it after I'm all done it.

Thanks so much for the input on washing fabric. I am new at adding things to the message board. I really enjoy reading it all.

If you want to do a search on the topic, you can read until tomorrow morning on the topic. (Maybe even next week)

I've had stuff shrink over two inches in width. Including a Michael Miller black that I just bought this winter at a LQS in Florida.

I very seldom prewash anymore, maybe 10% of what I buy ... only deep reds or greens etc

Use a color-catcher in the 1st wash and you should never have any problems

I've only had a couple of reds ever bleed in 20+ yrs of quilting, and those were Jinny Beyer prints 15 yrs ago

I've had a couple of the Jinny Beyer ones from that era bleed, also. A red one and a royal blue one.

That was AFTER I had washed them and thought they were okay.

The bleeding happened while I was pressing some blocks made with them using starch or sizing.

I started off washing all my fabrics. I did a couple of block of the months where I didn't wash the fabric and I really couldn't tell much difference after they were finished.

The batting you choose has a whole lot more to do with the look of the finished quilt than washing or not washing the fabric.

I haven't found many fabrics that actually bleed. Most of what people think of as bleeding fabric is just the excess dye washing out. Toss in a color catcher in the first wash and you shouldn't have a problem.

I wash all fabric pretty much as soon as I bring it in the house.

My DH and I rent the house that we currently live in and unfortunately we have an ooooooold septic tank. We try to limit the amount of "washing" we do . . . so I can't really wash fabric any time I buy new. So what I do is fill my bathtub up with water and a tad bit of my laundry detergent. Then I soak one color at a time to get any excess whatever off the fabrics. I just ring out the fabric and put them in the dryer all together :-)

I have heard that if you do not prewash your fabrics and you wait to wash your quilt AFTER it is complete that sometimes you will get an effect of a rather old quilt . . been a long day so my brain doesn't really want to work LOL

I don't take any chances so I prewash everything. I would hate to spend hours making something just to have it shrink or bleed. Color catchers are also a good idea the first time you wash a quilt.

I prewash everything. Wall hangings can shrink just a tad and it won't "hang" right.

I didn't use to but now I do. I don't want to take the chance of all that work and something going wrong. I also do machine embroidery on alot of my quilts and I have to prewash before embroidering.I would have a mess if I embroider and then the fabric shrinks and messes up the embroidery. So if I am going to prewash the fabrics with embroidery i have to prewash any other fabric used in the quilt. I just get it over with and then starch and iron it before getting to work on the quilt. It gives me the peace of mind that I do not have to worry about shrinkage or bleeding.

I don't prewash and so far (knock on wood) have had no problems

I prewash everything with a Shout Color Catcher. The catcher usually picks up a lot of color. Right now I am loving batiks & they really need prewashed. I then iron them while wet...works for me!

I always pre wash,totally dry, fold and put into my fabric cabinet. I iron when I get ready to use.

Only think I add to that, is that I serge or zigzag the raw edges before washing the fabrics.

I have never pre-washed. Something in me does not feel the need to clean material that is not dirty.

[quote=erstan947]I don't prewash anything. Been successful.

same with me
I rarely wash anything unless I'm using alot of a solid (red and blue, particularly) and there's white cloth in the quilt.

In sewing class, back in the olden days, we learned to pre-wash all fabric. I still do that, although I tend to mostly get it wet with hand-warm water, wring thoroughly, then let the dryer do the shrinking. I once threw a bunch of fat quarters through the wash and they shrank so much I couldn't make the pattern I had bought the kit for. I wouldn't pre-wash any pre-cut fabric again.

If you participate in most swaps, the fabric used in them is to be pre-washed.

I've always washed fabric before quilting, because that's what i was taught, but this new one I'm working on isn't washed so i'll see what i get when it's all done.i'll wash it in cold water and hang to dry. With the natural wonder batting it might just come out the way i want.

its always better to be safe then sorry. Again it depends on the ultimate use of the quilt. If wallhanging and never washed then I don't.
However, I bought 7 coordinating pieces at the local big box store. They had a good coordinated group and the quilt is going to someone I know only casually. I used the pattern used as learning a new technique.....so with this said.
I washed it all and glad i did because there was considerable difference in the quality within the 7 pieces, a couple shrank badely while others didnt. And since there was a lot of bias edges Iam sure I did wash.

So ultimate use and then better to be safe than sorry about the results. If i don't wash then i at least spray and steam press or wet the piece and iron dry.

It really depends. If I buy from my lqs, I don't because I have never had anything that I have purchased from her shrink or bleed. When I buy from other places, I am more leary. But I always prewash flannels as some of them will shrink a lot.

I soak every fabric before using or storing it - to shrink it and remove any excess dye. Better to be safe than sorry! It only takes a short time to do this procedure and a long, long time to repair a ruined quilt. Worse still to have to discard it because the dye ran - which it does with a surprising number of fabrics regardless of price per yard.

If you are going to use the fabric to applique, the fusible web will not stick to unwashed fabric (sizing or something). I learned this the hard way after cutting out a zillion Christmas pillow gifts and the appliques all kept falling off as I was sewing!

Just read your reply, I've been quilting for years and never washed anything, until it was all done. Never had a problem, but am more scared with the bolder colors I am using. You mentioned a color catcher. What exactly is that? I've never heard of it before.

I wash dark colors and all batiks. I'm glad I did. I washed a red the other day that had to go through three times before the water ran clear. Since I'm using it with creams and yellow, not washing (a tablerunner) would have been a disaster.

When I bring home a stash of fabric, it goes no further than the garage. It's washed before it enters the house and into my other goodies. The reason is, fabric has a chemical and over time will make your fabric rot. Some of my fabrics are many years old and as good as ever.

My daughter has asked me to make her a quilt using Jell Rolls. Do these need to be prewashed too? I have always pre washed my fabric yardage because I worry about color bleeding and shrinkage.

I never thought of dry cleaning the first time. I don't usually pre-wash fabric but I do use Color Catchers the first couple of times. I don't trust red or some blues, though, and always prewash them, especially red. Does the dry cleaning help "set" the colors?

I am getting ready to make my first quilt. What is a color catcher and where do I get one?

put colour catchers in your machine with clothes & they 'catch' any colour runs. Absolutly fantastic!! I buy them in the supermarket.

Like dierdie ann said, they are in the supermarket. On the aisle with all the laundry products in a white and blue box. Might have to look on the top shelf. They're by the makers of Shout. Good luck with that first quilt. Very dangerous you know, that's how I got horribly hooked.

When I first learned about quilting, the teacher said to prewash the fabric, and that seemed normal to me. I later learned that it is a preference, some people do and others don't. I still pre-wash everything,not only for shrinkage and getting excess dye out, but for sanitary reasons. After all, I do wash linens, towels and clothes as soon as I bring them into the house, same goes for my fabric. It's a lot for work (the pressing mainly), but it is worth for me, I am more comfortable working with the fabric.

With that said, I avoid buying kits because I don't want to take that chance on either not washing or not having enough after I wash.

Just my two cents :) And BTW, I am a new quilter, so no long experience here.

I really agree with Candi,better safe than sorry.i usualy serge then wash ,new fabric smells terrible and some might be allergic.

Shout Color Catcher
traps dyes to protect you clothes. It is a sheet like the dryer sheet you put in the washing machine and it really works good.