Hello , I was wondering if you wash your fat quarters, jelly rolls and charm packs. I understand we have to wash the fabric to let it shrink, see if it bleeds etc...
When you get small pieces and if you do not wash those, what happend if it does shrink?

I had 3 fat quarters packs that I sew all around so it does not fray in the washing machine or dryer but then I thought it would take forever for just one charm pack and if it shrink what,s left of my pieces??

I don't wash charms, jelly rolls etc. When I am finished with a project I put Shout Color Catchers in the wash with it.
They work great!
If I think something is sure to bleed I will soak it in a basin first.

I don't prewash anything unless it was bought at a thrift shop or yard sale. It's a process that I don't like. But that's just me.

Yup, same here.

I dont wash anything either, I wait until I'm all done and then wash.

I'll wash all the reds together, even with a color catching sheet, the reds could still bleed enough to affect the other colors.

I wash everything except charms, jelly rolls and precuts. I learned the hard way that they all shrink. I have tons of washed charms that I now cur down to 4 x 4 square to use so they aren't wasted. I can also still use them for Dresdan Plates. So, although they are not fit for 5 x 5's anymore, they are still quite useful. The jelly rolls are another story.

I've even had embroidery floss ( red of course) bleed!!!!

I was a washer before I started using charms, then I became a non washer. Several days ago I watched a 2 1/2 by 8 1/4 inch shrink before my eyes when I pressed it with steam. It was a good fabric, so I think I will go back to washing, though I dislike pressing large pieces of fabric. The thought of pressing six yards for a backing does not appeal to me.

I am reading all of your answers....
Now I am just wondering if it is worthed to buy charms or jelly rolls. If it does shrink or bleed but you find out after your quilt is finished what a disappointment!!

In another hand, many of you don't wash those smaller cuts..my question is if most of the fabric shrink, what's happening with your quilt that you work on for so many hours :-( Unless after it is quilted it does not shrink as it is hold by the quilting step??

SOOO confused.... what should I do what should I do?

To be honest I love the look that quilts get when they shrink in the wash. theres just something about it that appeals to me.

I wash. I put the smaller pieces in small zippered laundry bag to wash and dry. They dont seem to fray as much.

I just checked and discovered the piece that shrunk when pressed was a Robert Kaufman. Interesting.

I'm with you-even wall hangings look good when they are all wrinkled like the wonderful vintage quilts of old.

Wash! And, I don't know if 'crocking' is a problem anymore but when I was a beginner, sometimes colors would rub off on another while dry. I haven't noticed this these days.

Oh, try soaking pieces for awhile without agitating, remove from the machine, add water and rinse the same way. The less agitation, the fewer frays. Minimizing or eliminating the spin cycle helps avoid wrinkles. I have also washed smaller pieces in the kitchen sink, gently moving by hand. Let the waters drain and gently press by hand to remove excess water.

I've never heard of crocking before and it's never been a problem for me. Interesting. I do have some vintage, antique quilts that I'll drag out and see what is going on with them, as one is a red star "freedom" quilt done with turkey red fabrics. If anything will crock, it might be this quilt. I do have some indigo blue log cabin quilts too that might cause a problem. I don't have them boxed or wrapped, just on a shelf in a closet, out of the sunlight, but the fabrics are touching each other.

I was fqs in the fine washables net bags, but haven't been washing charms. I just bought 3 packs of the CT batik ones, & am debating about washing them? Maybe wait till I order a few more of them, then use them all in the same small quilt, that should work, right, lol...I always prewash any other larger fabric pieces I buy, don't want to worry about shrinking or fading, down the line, & ruining a quilt piece.

FQ size and above - I used to always wash. Finally narrowed it down to the problem - RED and batiks. Anything now with red I soak in water to see if it will run...and same with batiks. No color run, no further washing - just hang up to dry. Works for me :lol:

Well thank you very much everybody for your input. I now have a better idea of what I should do :-)

When I started quilting, I washed everything- then changed & only washed the non-quilt store fabric. The I read an article about the chemicals used in processing batiks and many dyes - I have returned to washing all the fabrics now. The article said while most quality fabrics no longer "bleed" and it is not necessary to wash due to setting the dyes, but urged everyone to wash their fabric due to the chemicals, especially batiks. So I now hand wash the charm packs, etc.

I wash ALL my material as soon as I get home from the QS. Have you ever heard of Retayne?? It will stop the bleeding on any colors. I wash all my fabric together (reds too) and use 1 teaspoon of Retyane per yard of fabric. Even washed reds & whites together. On my charms, I soak them in a dishpan of real hot water till the water cools and then hang each piece over my towel bar over my tub and don't even wring them out.
You can buy Retayne at your local QS or ask about them getting it, it is a wonder and wouldn't quilt without it as I think washing before will solve a lot of problems down the road.

I wash dark colors and hand dyed fabrics and some other colorful print fabrics. I wash extra wide backing fabrics for my quilts, just to get the sizing out to make them softer. I definitely wash garage sale fabrics before I put it on my shelf with my stash.

I'm lucky, have always washed and present machine has a hand wash cycle, which hardly frays the fabric at all.

I also wash all my fabrics when they come home with me.
I also wash my finished quilt. The batting will shrink causing the dimple effect in the quilt.
I do a lot of hand applique, so the last one I was using the card of bias binding for the flower stems, I first thought I wouldn't wash it but decided I better do it. The binding did draw up. So if I hadn't washed it, my quilt would of been ruined after washing it.

if you're always going to dry clean the quilt you don't need to pre-wash. if you're worried about colors running, set them by salting the wash water. and whenever possible, hire someone to iron the cloth. LOL 8)

I'm with you. I never pre-wash. Probably a mistake, but so far I've had no problems!

I just toss them in a delicates mesh bag and fill up the mesh bag with socks, if it is not full enough. Works like a charm. I have never stitched around an edge. I don't have the time or patience for that. I've got to find a way to "make it work."

Fabric dyer here: salting does not "set" the fabric. Salt is used in dyeing to raise the polarity of the fabric to attract the dye molecules. Once the soda ash has activated the dyeing process and the dye is spent, you hope that the excess dye is washed out by the manufacturer. You cannot "re-set" the dye with salt. Washing in cold water with Synthrapol is your best bet.

From Paula Burch's website:
"Synthrapol is a special detergent used in pre-scouring fibers before dyeing, and in washing out fiber reactive dyes after dyeing. It is also sometimes used as a surfactant or wetting agent to improve dye penetration.

A detergent contains long, thin molecules which each have one end that "likes" oily substances, and another end that "likes" water. Detergent molecules will completely surround a tiny particle of something too oily to be washed away by water alone, leaving just their water-loving 'tails' sticking out, to be easily swept away by the water. Water is the strongest of all solvents, but it requires detergents to wash away oily substances.

Good luck and if you have any other dye related questions, do a search on her name.

I only wash when required to for board swaps. I have started using sizing and pressing in hopes of improving cutting accuracy, so I guess if fabric is going to shrink, it does at that point. With the color catchers on the market and Retayne (which I just purchased), my concerns with bleeding are reduced.

I only pre-wash a "questionable" red or dark color. I never wash small pieces like charms, layer cakes, jelly rolls. I am afraid you have nothing left of them.

Hi All,
I just now today stumbled on this site through a Dear Jane group. As I was trolling around the pictures and comments I thought, 'I'll just bookmark this so I can look around and see if I want to join at a later date.
Then I came across the pre-wash question which lit up my buttons!
I am an avid washer after spending numerous hours on something and having it run. I also have noticed some fabrics shrink at different proportions so you may have one fabric shrinking greatly while it's neighbor that you have pieced to doesn't shrink at all. It makes me manic!
All fabric goes to the laundry room after purchase. If it gets to my sewing area that means it's pre-washed.

Pre-washing is just a term. If you are using a washing machine the agitation will really be harsh and you will get lots of raveling fabric. To avoid agitation I do this. I have a huge white bucket in my laundry room sink. I turn on the hot water and fill the bucket with the hottest water and put the fabric in. Lights with lights, reds separate, darks together ... you get the picture. After about 20 minutes I go back to see if there are any bleeders. If not I then pull the fabrics out and squeeze to get much of the hot water out. Fill up trusty bucket with very cold water and plunge in to the cold water and let sit about 20 min. Remove fabric, squeeze much of the water out, dry in a hot drier, remove and fold and bring to sewing area.

Not only are you pre-shrinking and removing all that chemical fabric sizing you are also identifying bleeders. You are leveling the playing field by shrinking so that all the fabric in finished quilts now behave the same if they get laundered.

Bleeders identified in the hot soak---> Remove the offending fabric, squeeze excess water, dry in a hot drier. Treat this dry fabric with a product called retayne. Follow product directions. I usually go a step further by adding a small teakettle of boiling water to my super hot tap water to the bucket with the retayne water.

As I said, I'm pretty manic about the pre-wash topic. Looking forward to participating in this group. Hope I haven't pushed anyone's buttons in a bad way by my strong response. And it is my first post!

I always wash all fabric. Don't like mistakes shrinking before i sew them together and i want to see if the material bleeds so i can take precautions. If material isn't good i can take back right away.

Same here. I know some folks would never use unwashed fabric, while I choose not to wash. I do wash it when it's for a swap that calls for washed fabric.

Hi,
Since I am fairly new to quilting, I was told that you wash all your fabrics. After doing this for several quilts, I got tired of all the STRINGS - now I use the steam setting in my machine, and steam the fabrics, since steam is hot, I believe the sizing and chemicals are released from the fabric, they come out damp, so I throw them in the dryer for 10 mintues. I then press them with a hot iron. Recently was told about using spray starch, made a baby quilt this week, and all I can say is "What a difference in sewing the seams" a little startch can make.
NormaBeth

I pre-wash everything. I wash small items in lingerie bags. They could shrink or bleed also and I don't want to take a chance. :-)

always, always, always prewash...even the tiny bits that are precut!

just buy you a salad spinner a good one nothing cheap...
hand wash your fabric in the sink with ivory dish soap, rinse gently, wring out on a towel to gently squeeze the water out...then spin a few at a time in the salad spinner, press while still damp!

DONE...

NO...without a detergent to break down and release those chemicals, they are still in the fabric...

YEAH....another WASHING fanatic like me....thought I was a rare breed...glad you joined us for my other great group!

I prewash and dry everything that I'm going to use in quilts that I know will be washed and dried along the line. I've had fabrics bleed that I didn't expect to--light oranges, yellows--and certainly purples and blues as well as reds. Oftentimes when I've put the pieces in to soak it doesn't look like they're going to bleed until I squeeze them out and then huge amounts of dye are released. I'm talking about even 5-inch squares.

My feeling is: I like to start out putting my quilts together being pretty sure that nothing is going to bleed into its neighbors and that none of my pieces are going to shrink differently than others when they are eventually washed and dried. Quilting is too much work to waste the effort on something that I might not like the results of down the line. This is strictly IMHO, of course.