I have a huge collection of batik fat quarters and when I started coming to this board I started reading about pre-washing, especially batiks. So, when my kitchen dish pan was empty and clean - pure white - I started washing them - in a drop or two of liquid detergent - swished around by hand, wrung out very gently by hand, rolled in big, thirsty towels on my counters and then just draped over some removeable clothes lines that my DH put up in the laundry room - yes, they dried very quickly. I refolded them the way that they were and did not have to iron any of them. Of course, I ironed them as I used them. But, this method did not create many/any wrinkles - nor were there any strings to cut off. By the way, some of the batiks bled and bled - so bad that I had to throw 2 of them away. One was a dark blue and it reminded me of an octopus squirting out his "ink" when caught. The other one that I threw away was a green and gold piece of batik - never did stop bleeding.

I don't take the time to zig zag----life is too short and busy over here. Instead I simply throw those fat quarters in a lingerie bag (or two--if you have a lot) and wash with my other fabric. They may come out in a ball but just shake them out and dry as usual. They will need pressing, but the other fabric does also.

I used to pink mine but I realized I was losing more fabric pinking them than I was losing to fraying, plus it was extra work so I stopped. I'm too lazy to sew edges and then have to trim that back off.

Gentle cycle definitely helps, as do lingerie bags for little pieces. I think if you combine those two things you'll have a lot less fraying and knotting. You'll still get some, but not as much.

Or, hand-washing is probably best, but I'm too lazy for that. ;)

Was at Joann's this week and fat quarters are increasing in price to $2.49 each. All fabric is to increase in price also next week.

I don't pre-wash those or most fabrics because I like sewing with the sizing. I am lucky that I don't have any allergies. If I did, I would certainly hand wash them.

Yep, this is what I do, too. If they are going to fray too much, then I kind of want to know ahead of time because I might not want to put fabric like that in a quilt. So far, none I've bought have frayed beyond trimming, as Ghostrider says.

I serge or zig zag the raw edges, it takes care of all that raveling.

When I'm in a hurry, I hand wash them in the sink then roll them up in a big bath towel to get most of the water out. If I have time, I hang them to dry - if not, I iron them dry.

I used to zig zag the edges, but I was having trouble with the zig zag vibrations making my light flicker (turned out to be a faulty bulb). So I started notching the edges of fabric instead -- 5 notches on fabric cut across the full width, 3 notches on fat quarter edges. You do get some fraying within the notched areas, but the threads aren't long enough to cause problems. I'll probably stick with this method, as it's quite a bit quicker than the zig zagging.

I use lingerie bags for fat quarters. It works really well. Very little fraying.