I have only bought a yard or two here and there for small projects. I received some fat quarters in the mail today for a turning twenty quilt I have in mind. Should I wash them first on gentle cycle or something? I afraid that they'll get all frayed and I'll loose half the quarter. All my other fabrics I just through in the machine prior to using them.

I agree with Joyce.
I would just "rinse" them in the sink. That way, no worries on fraying.

I have never had a problem with washing mine. I wash almost everything before I use it. Depending on the material I have only had a problem with a few that get all that stringy stuff but after cutting that off and pressing them again everything was fine.
Just my two cents worth!
Kendra

When I do wash fabric I put the pinking blade in the cutter and pink everything except the selvage. No fraying problems and you don't lose much fabric when you square it up with a regular cutter blade.

I also pink the raw edges and wash and dry them in a laundry bag. Don't seem to have much fraying.

Thank you all for the fast replies. I have a pinking blade in the mail somewhere. It should be here soon and I will go from there. Thanks

I wash all my fat quarters in the machine. The edges do fray, but only by a quarter-inch or so. The biggest problem is untangling and trimming all the frayed bits when I do many at once. One of these days I'll get a mesh bag to wash my FQs in!

Ooooh, pretty fabrics ai731! Any special plans for those?

I really don't mind untagling fabrics, unless I'm rushed for time. I'm big into puzzles and such so I think that's why I don't mind.

My machine has a hand washable cycle only agitates like every 45 seconds or so for like 5 seconds. I use it when I wash fabric and haven't had a single mess, had a few frays but no big ones.

Yup :) I'm almost finished sewing the binding on the lap quilt / throw quilt I made from these FQs (they are from the Amy Butler Daisy Chain line). I'll post a picture of it, hopefully this evening!

Jan

I typically throw fat quarters in with all the rest of my fabric when I'm washing it. It's all going to knot up, but if you clip it apart BEFORE you dry it, it won't be such a pain to iron.

You might lose some of the width of a fat quarter to washing, but not enough to mess up the project. Not prewashing and having the dyes bleed WILL ruin your project!

Leah

Yay! I can't wait!

If you cut the corners of any fabric prior to washing it will reduce the strings. Sometime no strings at all.

this is what i do and i've found that only the low thread count fabrics fray.

I'm going to try that next time! Thanks for the tip!

Jan

This never works for me :cry:

That's what I do

I throw a towel in the wash with the fabric and also in the dryer. It makes a big difference.
I also use mesh bags that you can buy at the dollarstore.

I overcast the raw edges before washing the pieces. Takes a few moments ahead of time, but this way I lose less than an 1/8 of inch fabric all around and don't have any of those annoying ravels.

Besides, it's kind of fun to do mindless sewing now and then.

I hand wash my FQ in the sink and then put them in the dryer. Never had a problem.

I'm not a washer unless the fabric is stiff, or VERY bright or dark.

Interesting. I'll try that.

I zigzag the raw edges before I wash. I think I was taught that in home ec in the 70s. :-) I do it to all the fabric I wash.

Next time I'm going to try clipping the corners. Hope it helps.

The instant I saw this I now know how to use some shelves I saved from a little refrigerator that went on the blink. It can be hung from the underneath side of over head cabinets in laundry room and perfect for drying fabric. Since elecricity costs so very much these days.

Washing is for checking for dye ooze, but drying in the dryer does the shrinking if it's going to shrink. You'd be surprised at how many fabrics actually shrink. Real batiks never shrink because of the batik process, but they can ooze dye. If I'm making a wall hanging, I don't bother with either. But I usually don't know that when I buy a fabric.

Cutting corners hasn't always worked for me, so I serge cut edges before washing. It's fast and sure.

I just throw my fat quarters in the kitchen sink (by color) in the hotest TAP water I can get. SWISH them around a little, ring them out and stick in dryer for 10 minutes or so... No FREYED edges or "married" fabric.. I have done this for years...

pinking shears or sew a thread about 2mm from the edge before washing.

You really live in Herforst? Are you German or associated with the Airbase?

I use to live in Herforst near Wald Strasse. In 1980.


I see, you are air force. I use to live at the corner of Tannenstrassa and Keifernweg.

Small world.

tim in san jose

I always trim the corners of all fabric I'm washing. I usually do the FQ's in the sink and then iron them dry.

I say no to washing, I just get busy cutting after ironing...

Jan,
What is the contraption you have the fabrics drying on? Is it a portable drying rack?
Sandi

Yes, that's exactly what it is - sometimes called a "gull wing" drying rack, I think. It's wire coated with some sort of white plastic. It folds up nice and flat to store in the laundry room when I'm not using it.

Jan

Hello Jennifer

I always wash my fabrics, FQ, metres of etc. The one exception is Jelly Rolls I read somewhere not to wash these. Anyhow I wash all my fabrics by hand in my sink & then rinse by hand until the dye runs clear. I then put the fabric into my washing machine in a Mesh Bag & put through a rinse cycle along with fabric conditioner.
I then tend to just press them straight from the machine & trim any straggly frayed edges & lay them on my airer to give them a final air.
Hope this helps.

Tisha

I use a nylon mesh bag and I find that helps some. I've tried clipping the corner and didn't think that did much to lessen the fraying but maybe it was because i didn't pink them I just clipped so I will use my pinking shears next time.
Muriel

I also find that good quality fabric does not fray. But the cheap fabric does...

I always wash my fat quarters in the washing machine. Never had a problem.