I never pre-wash. However I just finished a quilt and washed it to get the "look" and also wash away the marking lines. The fabric changed colors. So perhaps pre-washing is a good idea.

I started as a garment maker, too so I wash everything. I am about to start on two different quilts- all kaffee fassett fabrics. One is several techniques- foundation pieced, english paper pieced, and appliqued. The other is raw edged appliqued. I had yardage, the 6" rolls, fat quarters and layer cakes. I serged them all except the layer cakes since they were pinked. the layer cakes shrunk every which way! some were fine but others were a good inch in one direction and others the other direction. I always serge the edges first so I don't lose any yardage- it takes a few minutes, but it keeps it beautiful! When raw edge appliqueing they say the chemicals on the fabric really make a difference in the way the fusible holds when using a light one like Misty fuse. Raw edge gives me the chills enough without asking for trouble!

I always prewash. I've had enough bleeders in my lifetime to understand the need. And if you swap fabric, it is a requirement.

If I don't prewash my fabrics I get itchy due to the chemicals and dyes used. I use a lot of batiks, they bleed dye and must be washed before using.
I sewed garments before I learned to quilt. I still make shirts for my DH and he asked if his shirt would shrink in the first wash. I said, no because the fabric was washed before it became a shirt. He was relieved that it wouldn't shrink.
Sharon in Texas

Usually I do, but not always. Cotton batting will shrink, so you'll get a certain amount of puckering in any case. I figure it goes with the territory, and anyway, the effect is soft and comfortable and tends to camouflage my booboos. I like to wash with Color Catchers so I can see what I might be up against.

I don't pre-wash and have never had any problems, even with reds and dark colors. Instead of color catchers I wash my quilts with Retayne the first time only. This sets the colors so there is no worry about future colors running. Retayne is used instead of detergent but only on the first wash. After that I use Woolite Dark and Downey on cold water & cool dryer. I would never wash my batting. I use Warm & Natural. I would end up with a pile of lint!

Well, I guess I'll "wade in" on this discussion. I DO prewash every piece of fabric BEFORE I add it to my stash. Reasons: (1) I have asthma, and it can get really bad. I don't like the coughing and struggling to breathe -- I use unscented shampoo, body lotions, etc. and I don't use any perfume or cologne -- I prefer to breathe and I don't like paying $40 for cough medicine ('cause it's not covered by insurance). (2) I've encountered far too many "bleeders" in fabrics, particularly reds, but also any brilliant color, so I test my fabrics for bleeding -- if the test is positive, I treat the fabric to "set" the dye, then wash, dry and press. (3) Shrinkage -- Cotton fabric will shrink some - so I wash not only the quilt top fabric, but also the backing. I generally use a very good polyester needle punch batting which can be quilted with quilting lines as much as 10 inches apart (I never quilt that loosely). (4) the chemicals used in fabric manufacturing can be very damaging -- my hands break out in a rash, and the finger tips split if I use unwashed fabric, so I stopped doing that years ago. The breathing issues and asthma are the primary reasons why I prewash -- asthma attacks can kill you, or at the very least cause you some real misery -- it's worth the effort to prewash. (5) The raveling for me is a non-issue -- I serge across the cut edges of the fabric before I load it in the washer -- it takes only a few seconds to 5 minutes generally and saves aggravation. I don't like the raveling and the tangles resulting from the raveling either. If you don't have a serger, zig-zag across the cut edges -- that will accomplish the same thing.

I prewash every thing. bought some this morning and it went straight into the washer and dryer. Took it out and folded immediately. Looks and folded great.

I wash, starch, and dry all fabric before it goes into my stash. I worked in a fabric store years ago, and you never know what customers have on their hands while they are looking at the fabric, or which bolts of materials the kids blew snot on while playing.

To me, ironing fabric and folding is relaxing and I enjoy a little break from the creative times of quilting. Plus, when I'm piecing, the fabric is already starched which helps stop a lot of the dirt from sticking. It also stiffens the seams while piecing.

I have not prewashed before but my DIL just sent me fabric (mostly batik and some bright pinks) along with the Mommy and Me quilt pattern for my new grand baby due in December so I am going to prewash her fabrics. Should I also prewash the batting?

I use a lot of bright white in my quilts. I don't buy charms. I prewash everything but jellyrolls, which I don't buy many of either. I don't want bleeding fabrics staining my quilts.

Count me in the pre-wash club...I prewash everything, but I know there are plenty of people that do not. I think it is probably more important to be consistent with which ever method you prefer.

I pre-wash yardage; I do not pre-wash pre-cuts, in part because manufacturers do not recommend it and because I think it would make a tangled mess.

And it is easier to cut and sew if not pre-washed.. and it takes a lot time

I do not prewash, mainly because I use mostly precuts (due to a badly twisted spine) and the instructions that come with a lot of them say do not prewash, the risk of having them get all ravelly and threads hanging loose is something I cannot tolerate. I do occasionally wash a bigger piece of fabric on the gentle setting and iron them.

Prewasher here because the chemicals really do take my breath away! Recently, fabric I ordered on-line arrived smelling so strong that I couldn't be in the same room with them until they were washed. I have COPD but most fabric doesn't bother this much. I have also had fabric bleed. I bought a beautiful red print to make a quilt for my oldest DGD but it was still bleeding after 5 washings and I will never trust it to be used in a quilt.

Marilyn

Marilyn,

There are products out there which will "set" the dyes in your fabric. In the past year or so, I completed a log cabin quilt top (a very large one) and I treated every one of the reds. Reds are notorious for bleeding, but I treated and then tested the fabrics after the treatment -- no bleeding. As a relative newbie, I'm thankful to have discovered what I used -- now my color choices won't be governed by the possibilities of bleeding fabric. I won't name the product I used here -- because it could be construed as promoting a product on the forum, and I won't do that!

By the way, I definitely prewash everything that comes in this house. I have adult onset asthma, and I just won't risk working with unwashed fabrics.

Wow, what a stash!

I pre wash/dry most fabrics before they get into my home. Allergies, chemical sensitivities lead to illness otherwise. Some fabrics MUST be pro-washed - flannel, for example. That also lets me know if there were any problems with dye running.

My quilts still crinkle just fine.

Press it as you need it instead of right after you launder it. It's not a big job then.

I never used to prewash. However, I prewashed all the fabric used in my last quilt (cotton). And I washed the batting (Cotton with scrim). All items were washed in warm water and dried in a dryer on medium setting,.It was long arm quilted with poly thread. The finished quilt measured 65 x 117 inches. I washed the finished quilt and it shrunk, 5 inches in width and 7 inches in length. I thought prewashing would have eliminated shrinkage of the finished item. Has anyone else had this happen?

I prewash due to allergies and wanting to know if something will bleed. I mostly work with batiks and they tend to have excess dye that is eliminated by prewashing. That said, I don't wash precuts when I work with them.

I have never understood only washing big pieces of fabric and not washing little pieces of fabric.

If there is a problem with a big piece of fabric, wouldn't a little piece of the same fabric have the same problem(s)?

Yes, I imagine the little pieces would have the same problems -- that's why I don't buy pre-cuts, etc.

I only wash the vintage sheets I get from the thrift store, not new fabric. And is use them together with no problems (bleeding, shrinkage, etc.) The batting and quilting usually control the degree of shrinkage. I typically lose about 3%, which is what the labels tell you to expect.

Some of us pre-wash for a variety of good reasons. I am one of them - allergies.

Prewash or not.
 

I always wash reds after turning a beautiful Christmas table runner pink yrs ago. I prewash some fabrics if I question the quality. Some, once the sizing washes out, is so poor I won't use it for anything.

Chem, I don't prewash MOST things, BUT, eventually it will happen. One piece of fabric will leak dye and then you will get mad and go back to prewashing for awhile anyway. I only buy quiltshop fabric, but for awhile there, I had dye leakage from RJ Fabrics. Doesn't happen any more though. I still have dye leakage from dark flannels, so if you are going to mix it with light colors, I recommend prewashing the dark to get the excess dye out (and there will be a lot of it if it is dye leaky). I had a valentine's quilt turn blotchy red with Joann's flannel fabric on the back. It's muted now so doesn't irk me so much, but just a warning - you never know when it will happen. If it's an important quilt, I'd prewash.

FWIW, I prewashed all my fabric for the first 10 years and then got lazy. I know which fabrics aren't prewashed (Asian, Halloween, panels, christmas glitter, flannel), so it's not a problem for me, but whichever way you go, make sure you have a means to know whether it is washed or not washed. I prewash all backing fabrics because I've had them shrink as much as 7 inches over the length of a queen sized quilt which would have caused some problems.

I used to be diligent and washed everything. Then I got lazy and didn't BUT I made sure that ALL fabric in the quilt was either washed or not. By now, I have no idea what was washed and what wasn't. I use it as is and wash the quilt with color catchers.

One thing I NEVER prewash is precuts. One fabric I tend to still wash is batiks.

As for the crinkled look - I still get that even with prewashed fabric. It's all fun and games and fortunately, I am not allergic to chemicals. Now show me a blooming tree and I'm a snarling mess.

I did not prewash my fabrics for years, then I started working with flannels which shrink in crazy ways. I also normally wash batiks, but I have a large stash and not all of it is washed. I just started a scrappy project and thought I had prewashed the scraps. Well, I starched a piece of red and it turned the ironing board cover red so I started testing the fabrics by wetting them, putting them on a paper towel with a glass of water on top and wound up throwing all the pieces in the wash. One of the batiks started leeching color before I put it on the paper towel and another turned my fingers pink. Most of the problems were batik, but a couple of blues that were Moda fabrics bled as well. I have found that if I want to be lazy and not prewash, I need to test the fabric first.

I prewash some and flannel.

I don't pre-wash anymore but when I did, I serged the edges so not so many strings to cut off afterwards. Now I starch heavily so if its going to bleed, it normally does it then for me, plus once its dry, I spray mist and then press so some of the shrinkage should happen then too. Has worked for me and my quilts still come out a little wrinkled which I like anyway.

Ok, so with that subject, what do you thing about hand washing for one without an accessible washing machine?

Of course, you can hand wash your fabrics and hang them to dry. I would use steam to press them in this case.

Even if I weren't concerned about shrinkage and bleeding dyes in fabrics (and I've encountered a few) I would still be much more concerned about the chemicals or any other matter which might end up on the fabric (my cousin caught a couple of adults blowing their noses/wiping their noses on the new fabric in her shop. That fabric had to be thrown away -- she couldn't sell it. I would hope that people have more respect for fabrics that are in retail establishments, but I don't have confidence that this would be the case. I've seen instances where chicken bones, pieces of bread, etc., have been stuffed either in fabrics or in clothing. I don't think I need to tell you how disgusting that is to me. I have asthma -- and it's not going to go away, so I exercise a great deal of caution, so I guess I will always pre-wash. But I don't buy pre-cuts or quilt kits either. If something is going to be damaged by washing, I don't want it brought in the door to my house. An ER visit due to an asthma attach is soooo much more expensive, both financially and physically.

I just completed the Mystery Train Ride and I wasn't able to pre-wash as it was scrappy...something I always do. So, some of it will be pre-washed and some of it will not. We'll see how it washes.
Oh well, it's a Mystery, right?

Watson

I think washing before cutting is worth the effort. That said, I do have a large stack of fabric that is unwashed and taunting me.

It is a bit of a bother - but I think trying to remove dye that has bled and trying to repair seams that have pulled out because of shrinkage is a bigger bother.

From my experience, a small piece of fabric (a scrap or a precut) can bleed just as much as the larger piece of fabric it was cut from.

I rarely pre-wash but once in awhile I do if I think a fabric is suspicious. I've never had problems.

Prewash fabric? Never have, never will.:)