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I think it is personal preference. Welcome and ask away. I do :)

i wash and machine dry fabric when i get it home. fold it and put it away. using detergent gets rid of the formeldihyde thats in the fabric from the dying process. if you have allergy attacks after visiting your LQS its probably because of the chemicals in the fabric. with large pieces of fabric i cut off what i'm going to use and iron it before cutting my blocks {after washing and drying}. in case you don't know, LQS means local quilt shop. i still don't know all the abreviations but you'll learn them. welcome to the site, you'll find friends and lots of help and differing opinions on many things. try everything in miniture and then do what works best for you.

I wash mine with soap & vinigar for color setting, then dry in dryer, fold and put away. Why iron & then have to reiron when using

As soon as i get home I wash it in the machine with detergent to get out chemicals and dry it to allow it to shrink.

I wash all my fabric in the machine, ordinary washing powder/detergent, rinse (no fabric softener) and line dry. Bring it in, fold and put away. Don't bother ironing and starching 'til ready to use it.

I didn't wash it right away whenI first started (last year), but now with the bed bug infestations, I was anything made of fabric and dry it for 30 min. I don't mind the ironing because the material looks so nice when it is done.

Has anyone found bed bugs in a fabric order?

from what I have read, they can be any where because you do not know where it has been. warehouses, storage. I would rather not take that chance. Remember them when we had them once whenI was a kid.

I agree. I was just wondering if there were any reports yet. I noticed that for a while, the bed bugs were in the news and now you never hear about them but I am sure the problem is not any different than it was before. I guess it was the crisis of the moment for the news and other, more interesting stories, took over.

I have just been inspecting fabric and if I'm not sure, I freeze it for 2 weeks. lol. In a big plastic bag, of course. I don't want the bugs in my freezer either.