washing fabric
 

I know this has been brought up before but I need to see the answers again. I wash all my fabric including FQ's. I wished I hadn't started this. Can I use unwashed charms with my washed fabric? Can I stop washing altogether and combined washed and unwashed?

Shrinkage and bleeding are at issue here. For me it is dependent upon the quality and the color of the fabric. Some fabrics have so much dye the fabric is stiff. This is low quality fabric in my opinion. Reds and blues bleed and should minimally be tested whether they come in a pre-cut or not. This is just my own rule of thumb. Good luck.

I am a washer with my fabrics however I don't wash my charm packs or jelly rolls (these are the only pre cuts that I use). That being said if they were batiks I probably would being as careful as possible not to make the fabric fray.

I started out washing fabric as it came into the house, but grew tired of it very quickly. So I just stopped. I mix the unwashed with the washed all the time, and have not had any problem. Nearly all of my fabric is from quilt shops rather than big box or craft stores. I'm so happy that I gave myself permission to stop pre-washing. Laundry isn't on my list of favorite activities!

I started out washing all my fabric as soon as it came in the door. I later realized it was way too time-consuming for me. i stopped cold turkey and never looked back, using pre-washed and non-washed together without paying attention to which was which. I have had zero problems and don't regret the decision. I do toss color catchers in when i wash the finished quilt. If they "catch" a lot, I include a box of color catchers when i give the quilt away.

DebD

I mix them and so far haven't had a problem. I do use color catchers with the end product.

Watch for batiks though. I don't have many of those, however.

I wash everything before I use it. I use a lot of batiks so I want the dye to be stable before I put them in a quilt.

That brings up another problem. I went to my local WalMart and they don't know what a color catcher is. They didn't know what freezer paper was either. My husband found me some freezer paper at Zehrs Grocery. I don't know if it is the right stuff. It's by Reynolds and says its plastic coated. I did not check their for color catchers yet. I also don't know if is makes a difference on unwashed fabric when I use my disappearing marking pens.

I never wash any of my fabrics before using them in a quilt, but have never done a quilt that has high contrast...red/white...either. In my life, the need for washing would just add another stumbling block to getting started on a project! I normally use good yardage from our LQS which sells high quality fabric. I always wash my quilts when they are finished and ready to gift, and always use color catchers. No problems!

I do not prewash pre cuts and mix them with prewashed fabric without issue. In fact most of my quilts contain both all the time. My criteria for prewashing is -- does it smell funky? Does it feel funky? Is it a bleeder? Is it loosely woven- hoping to tighten it up a bit. When I use hand dyes, or deeply saturated colors of batiks I prewash them, they are the ones most likely to bleed. I launder my finished projects.

The quick answer to both questions is yes and yes.

This is what I've done for years.

Jan in VA

I used to wash everything. Then I bought my first jelly roll and realized it couldn't be washed, so I bought all new fabric for the back and binding. After that I started buying more precuts so I quit prewashing. I only prewash if the item I'm making won't be washed later, like a purse or other small projects like that.

The only fabrics I pre-wash are batiks and flannel, unless I'm going to use them in a rag quilt, although I do pre-wash if I'm making an article of clothing, have never had any problems. I think it's a personal preference.

I don't pre wash and never have. Never had a problem, but all my fabric is from Quilt Shops.

people do all the time with no issues

I also hate pre washing fabric and recently bought fabric to make a baby quilt. I hesitated but then thought i better..lucky i did as one of the fabrics was a bleeder and after soaking for a couple of days and changing the water lots of times finally today the water was only a very faint pink.
I also washed the batting as I was worried about shrinkage.

A friend of mine bought white sparkly fabric (similar to fairy frost) from our LQS. She was making a winter wall hanging for a Christmas gift and wanted to use the fabric for the mountain. She thought the sparkles would look like snow. Luckily, she washed the fabric before making the wall hanging because all the sparkles washed off! The lovely fabric ended up looking like a piece of ordinary white cotton. She was glad she washed the fabric because it gave her time to buy something else to use.

I rarely wash my fabric but will sometimes if it is red. I've never had any problems.

Color catchers are in the laundry aisle and come in a box. I usually find them on the top shelf. There are several different brands but some stores only carry one. Shout is one brand but there are others. I have used different brands and they all seem to work equally as well.

Freezer paper is usually in with the foil and plastic wrap area of the store but I have also found it in some stores where the measuring spoons and kitchen utensils and odds and ends of dishes are.

I'll let you know after this weekend! Some fabric has been washed, some not. There's too much to get it all washed before my class on applique. We were told to bring a laundry basket full of fabric. That's not a problem, but having it prepped is. So I'm focusing on getting the batiks to stop bleeding (I'm using bright colors) and the rest will have to go as is. I'm thinking I was a better quilter before I knew all the 'shoulds.'

I find color catches at Target

I started out not washing fabric but I had a bleed and so I started washing my fabric and ironing it and it is a big pain in the butt but I don't want a bleed to ruin a quilt I have put the time into make. I also starch a lot of my fabric so it won't stretch. It depends on what I am making. So I do a lot of prep before I cut. I hate to iron and I still do the prep.

Since I starch most of my fabrics when I go to use them, if they're going to bleed, they'll bleed in my starch solution as I dip them. Then since I have to pressed them, again if they're going to shrink a lot, some of that will be taken up with the pressing. I rarely wash before use though. Just my thought on the subject. I used to wash/press when I brought them home but that got tiring. Back then I'd serge across the cut edge so I knew it had been washed prior to use. I've used some of those with the unwashed fabrics with no ill effects...............so far.

I am a washer before sewing person. I do wash fat quarters and even charms. The one thing I have learned the hard way to NOT wash is panels. I did and the squares on it came out wonky, even with trying to iron them straight and square. I have mixed unwashed 2 1/2 inch strips with washed fabrics and had problems wish some bunching up after the first laundering. These were placemats, so not a lot of space to work with to try to fix them. I ended up giving them to my daughter who would love them no matter what.

I don't buy precuts. I do wash and dry all fabrics before using them.

The kind of answers I love!!

I prewash 90-99 per cent of my fabrics before using them in a quilt. I like to remove the fabric from the dryer while it is still somewhat damp, which makes ironing easier. That said, in a pinch, I have washed 1-2 yd. pieces in the sink, mostly to make sure they do not bleed, particularly if I don't have a lot of fabric to use the washing machine. While this makes for some extra work, I have been surprised some times by some dark fabric which doesn't bleed, as well as somewhat lighter fabric needing to be rinsed out 4-5 times. I think the debate of wash or not to wash will be going on forever, just do what you are comfortable with. You can mix washed and unwashed fabrics in a quilt, particularly if you are using pre-cut fabrics, which I do not typically prewash.

I wash everything as it comes into the house. I have a small mesh bag for my pre cuts and it works for me and is ready to go when I am ready to use it.

In high school Home Ec classes, we learned to prewash fabrics before cutting for garment making (who wants to make something that doesn't fit after that first wash?). When I started quilting, I continued to prewash the fabrics (no precuts then) and haven't changed my mind after 30+ years. I measure fabrics before and after laundering and find that even a complete line of coordinating fabric shrinks differently, Other than the (only) batik quilt I made last year (a note was attached with fabric NOT to prewash so gave friend a box of color catchers), I have continued to prewash everything before cutting for a quilt (haven't made wall hangings), admitting I don't use jelly rolls so no experience there; I've washed charms on delicate cycle. That Home Ec teacher also stressed 'sew-press-sew-press' and it definitely makes the difference on a finished product, whether it be a garment or a quilt. NOTE: I still have guilt feelings about not prewashing those batiks!!! To each his own, but prewashing is my comfort level so I've not mixed washed and not-washed fabrics in a quilt.

Look for the color catchers in the laundry detergent and freezer paper where foil and wax paper etc are, and DO NOT depend on the help. I was in local wal mart and asked paint for exacto blades and they had NO CLUE, and yet they were in the craft department. Young people and some older seem clueless about many things today.

I wash now after having a bad reaction to chemicals in fabric.

I only wash flannel before putting it in a quilt, unless the entire quilt is flannel. Otherwise, I don't wash anything until it is completely finished. I am mainly using batiks these and I use the "Recipe to Keep Colors from Running" that was posted on the quiltingboard by zozee. It works very well. I get my Color catchers from Target.