washing fat quarters
 

I have a huge collection of fat quarters- I clipped the corners on a few of them before I washed them - still came out a tangled mess! one project I want to do ,the fabric has to have the sizing removed.any tips would be appreciated.

I don't use many precuts and when I do I usually don't prewash. But I have prewashed some fat quarters checking for bleeders or to pre-shrink and I just gently swished them by hand in a sink of warm sudsy water. Rinsed gently then hung by clothes pins on hangars to drip dry. Worked fine with no unraveling threads. They dry fast.

I serge or zip zap the cut edges and throw them in the washer. Sometimes, FQ's are cut crooked and I like them on grain. Also if they are going to shrink or the color run, I want to have that done before I put them in a quilt. I prewash everything except layer cakes or jelly rolls.

I put a pinking blade on an old rotary cutter and trim the edges slightly...depending on the fabric there might be some threads but it does seem to help. I use a cold water rinse and then dry on low or air until just damp.

I wash FQs like other fabric AFTER I finish the raw edges with a zig zag stitch or overcast with a serger.

I would hand wash layer cakes.

I would not buy jelly rolls.

As far as I can tell, large and small pieces of the same fabric will behave the same as far as shrinkage and bleeding are concerned.

The only pre cut I will purchase is FQ's and I wash them just as any other fabric. They do fray a little, so I just tidy them up as I iron them. I do have a front load washing machine so that may make a difference. As others have mentioned, washing by hand would be a very good option.

I prewash everything, fat quarters included, and never serge, clip, or otherwise mess with any kind of 'edge prep'. I simply use the gentle cycle on my top loading washer. It's the full cycle agitation that tangles everything and frays the edges.

Trim any long threads before tossing in the dryer and you're good to go. I haven't had any tangled, knotted, excessively frayed, twisted up fabric for years...not since I've been washing them this way...and they don't come out of the dryer all wrinkled up either. Gentle cycle is enough to remove all sizing and chemicals for dyeing or fusing or anything else.

I rinse my fat quarters or 1/3 yard cuts (which I prefer) in the kitchen sink, wring, shake out, and toss in the dryer. Very few strings and no tangled mess ever.

I rarely buy FQ but the few I have gotten were batiks so I didn't have an issue with fraying or long tangled threads. I wash them like any other fabric. But I will try Ghostrider's gentle wash next time I do a load of prewash fabrics.

I found that using pinking shears works better

This just does happen with Fat Quarters. It is the nature of the beast. You have to plan accordingly if you don't want to loose out on necessary yardage.

I have had decent success with minimum raveling by doing small loads on a very gently cycle. I wash with baking soda and put White vinegar in the water softener part. Tumble dry gently. I think the key is to not put too many In one load.

I love fat quarters! I predominantly quilt with fat quarters. I LOVE variety. I'll deal with the raveling.

The other thing you can try is stitch around all 4 sides close to the edge with a basting stitch and see if this helps. Before washing. Me, I'm not interested in taking the time or wasting the thread. But, thought I would throw it out there as an option.

These suggestions are just my opinion. I'm sure you'll get many helpful suggestions to choose from.

Great Idea, never thought of this. (Note to self, get a pinking blade.)

I've washed fat quarters in lingerie bags and had pretty good success.

I put mine in the nylon bags for washing dainty underwear. The fat quarters don't come out from the washing (front loading HE washer)machine with much raveling. Then I spread them out and finger press them after they are put in the dryer for about 10 minutes>

My comments are free... so toss them out if you don't like them. LOL

I wash everything before cutting and sewing, including fat quarters.

I do not do anything to them but toss them into the washer with a few color catchers (which I purchase from Walmart). I have yet to have one bleed onto other fabrics. This includes lights with darks, etc.

Sometimes, and I do stress the word 'sometimes' things are tangled mess. That is why I keep scissors next to my washer. I cut into the tangled mess which releases the mess and then cut the strings at the edge of the fabric before tossing them into the dryer.

Since I am going for the most shrinkage I can get, I wash on hot and dry on hot. I have been doing this for years.

I just wash them. I don't trim or pink or serge or zig zag or anything. They fray so I just cut off the threads when I fold them up (or when I iron them).

I have a delicate cycle on my washing machine that I use. It doesn't agitate much so I don't have any problem with washing fat quarters. I don't wash any smaller precuts though.

Use a lingerie bag. There are large sized ones...

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.

I use either a large lingerie bag or a pillow case that zips closed to wash mine in hypoallergenic soap that I use for all my own clothes in normal setting and dry on normal setting. I do usually use the rack that fits in my dryer to spread them out flat without tumbling. Sometimes I am just too lazy to use pinking blade, but I do use it on larger pieces.

I bucket or sink wash all the smaller bits of fabric, precuts and FQ's....peg out on line and then iron. No dramas and no tangling. Only takes a minute or two, minimal water/power use....and I use the rinse-water on my plants.

Nanacc, what hypoallergenic soap do you use? Been having allergy to fabrics, trying to figure best way to wash.

The lingerie bag and pillowcase methods, along with the hand washing method, all do the same thing as machine washing on the gentle cycle...greatly reduce the agitation of the fabric. I go with the gentle cycle wash cuz it's the least hassle. Pick the one that works for you.