We don't prewash, do we?
 

I'm just checking :D

As a garment sewist I'm used to prewashing Everything so this feels like a transgression to me LOL

However, if I understand correctly, the pucker-y textured look of washed quilts (I loooooove that!) is maximized by not prewashing. Is the shrinkage that makes the puckers, right?

Yep, that's right:) I generally don't pre wash because 1) I'm too lazy and impatient to use the fabric right now! And 2) I hate the unraveled edges.

I do pre-wash. There are too many potential problems if I don't. Uneven shrinkage, dyes that bleed unexpectedly, chemicals in the fabrics from manufacturing... I still get puckery quilts if the batting shrinks, and anyway having a quilt pucker is not a priority with me. You'll find that pre-washing is a hot topic of conversation, with many on both sides of the issue.

Thanks NZ!

Dunster, I had no idea-- Sorry to all the prewashers out there! And yes, I'm worried too about the finishing stuff that gets put on fabric. It does not smell good.

But the thought of having to press (not iron!) all that yardage is scary LOL. Good to know tho that I can get puckering if I do decide to wash.

You are right to a degree. You can prewash your fabric, It removes chemicals, shrinks the fabric, checks bleeding and how the material acts after washing, Does it stay soft, pill, get dull. You will still achieve a crinkle look if you use cotton batting because it will do just enough shrinking to get the desired effect.

I always wash, dry and fold fabric as soon as it comes through my door and get it into my stash. As I need fabric I cut the amount I need off the stash fabric, dip in liquid starch, damp dry and press.

I prewash almost all my quilting fabric, and almost never have to iron anything. I always dry with a clean (dry) large cotton towel. I find that is does make a difference.

Everything you see here has been prewashed - with little to no pressing before folding.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psrekbyhr3.jpg

I personally can't stand the feel of unwashed fabric.

Most fabric can be folded straight from the dryer. When using it is when I press.

The chemical thing in my house is the clencher for me. There's many polutants I can't do anything about.

Also, some fabrics are stretched so much, washing relaxes them. Often 1 1/2 - 2" is lost in straightening. I'd rather that happen before cutting.

I always wash everything washable before cutting it. Including the battings - if they are washable.

This includes trims like bias tape and rick rack. I would probably wash cotton thread if I could figure out how to do it.

My quilts still get "some" crinkle in them after they are washed.

I would no more knowingly use unwashed fabric than I would not use my seat-belt while traveling.

I shudder to think what my grade 8 home economics teacher would do if I didn't pre-wash my fabric. Although, she did teach me to sew garments, not quilts...........

yes, if the fabric has a tendency to shrink, and most cottons will, then you get more puckering by not prewashing. that is, unless it is so densely quilted that there is no room for puckers LOL

these are the reasons that i prewash, also

I always wash everything washable before cutting it. Including the battings - if they are washable.

This includes trims like bias tape and rick rack. I would probably wash cotton thread if I could figure out how to do it.

My quilts still get "some" crinkle in them after they are washed.

I would no more knowingly use unwashed fabric than I would not use my seat-belt while traveling.

There are many that are adamant that there is absolutely no need to wash anything before cutting it.

I agree that it is a "bother" to wash, dry, and fold that yardage. I also think it is a bigger bother to deal with something that shrinks a lot or bleeds after it has been sewn into an item.

I"m not smart enough to tell by just looking what fabric will do what.

I prewash all yardage for all the above reasons but also because I want to know before I invest the time and energy that goes into the quilt making, what kind of hand/feel it has. Once in a long while, I change the plan because its too stiff or too limp or too printed off grain, etc.

Type of batting & density + curviness of quilting lines generally makes a bigger difference in crinkling than whether or not you pre-wash. I pre-wash everything due to being severely allergic to sizing (which is in most commercially produced fabric). With cotton batting, quilting lines that are typically around 3/4" apart and lots of curvy designs, I get plenty of crinkling.

I do not press fabric straight out of the dryer. I iron the larger pieces & press them once they're cut. And I starch heavily -- much more heavily than when doing home dec pieces or garment construction. On the rare occasion that I do not pre-wash my fabrics (e.g., when starting a project in a class at the quilt shop where I receive my new kit the day of class), I still press & starch that fabric and have not noticed that it crinkles much more than the one I've pre-washed. I only wash my quilts in cold water & dry on low heat because that improves the longevity of cotton fibers, so I can't say whether I might get a different result if I were to wash/dry on higher settings.

I prewash.

I don't prewash. I know that many quilters do, but I guess I am too lazy. I haven't had any real problems by not prewashing. A color catcher takes care of fabrics that might run. I am not fond of the crinkled look, but I can iron a quilt to get rid of it if I want...as long as I use cotton batting, that is.....:)

Dina

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It all depends on the fabrics and how I'm going to use them. I have a dryer with a wire rack that I can use to dry things so they don't tumble. I've even prewashed (or more like presoaked) fat quarters ad put them on the rack to dry.

I come from a garment construction background and this is all new ground to me, too. I do a lot wearable art and those fabrics don't need to be prewashed as they will never be washed. Other things are a bit case by case.

Chem, I generally don't pre-wash unless it looks like it may bleed. I haven't had any problems. I used to but now I seem to just use it pre-washed
Every time I see your cat I crack up! :D

When I started quilting (1992), I knew nothing. I do not pre-wash now because I didn't then.

Woah.....look at all that fabric...so neat too! Beautiful sight!
I only pre-wash flannel.

I wash everything when it comes in the house and the fabric is put through with warm water, color catchers (and the catchers always come out some other colors than the white they went in with), and the fabric goes in the dryer at medium heat with the wonderful soft balls that keeps the fabric from getting to wrinkly and I take them out of the dryer after 15 minutes and then I smooth the fabric and hang it up till tomorrow to dry. I have found almost, every fabric shrinks and I want to start a quilt with the hope that it stays the size it came out of the dryer. I also do this for the backing (same as the top fabric) however, I put the batting in the dryer after spritzing the batting with water lightly and 6 wet wash clothes. I run 10 minutes, open and move everything around, 10 more minutes, same shake it all up, and then finally 10 more minutes. Then hang it over the clothes line or over the shower rod in the bathroom. I have had some wonderful colorful fabric that didn't run at all but have had some that ran very red or very black or very blue, or very green in the water in the washer. Hope this helps someone.

Not being a gambler, I pre-wash almost everything.

Experience has taught me not to listen to quilt shop employees when they tell me that I won't have any problems with their "high quality name brand" fabrics.

I always prewash all my fabrics. I always wash in cold water, dry on regular heat. I dry large yardage of fabric by itself, fold over a ruler, smoothing as I go. I seldom do any pressing until I have pieces to press. I never starch anything. I would never wash batting. I mostly use hi loft poly batting. When quilts are finished I wash and dry again. I have made about 300 quilts. No problems.

True dat, Dunster! A hot topic...

I'm one who doesn't mind the pressing of washed fabric, as I love handling my new fabrics! But a lot of the time you can just fold and 'hand smooth' it and then ruler fold it, and store it. By the time you use it, it is often smooth. If not, you can press it then.

Swapping: A swap I'm in requires only prewashed fabric. I thought that was going to be great until I got some that was washed with a heavily perfumed laundry detergent... so much so that it made me feel sick to work on it. Especially putting a hot iron to it!

I do both. Most of my projects aren't pre washed but when I do hand appliqué or very small piecing I pre wash to keep shrinking at a minimum. When working with small pieces, shrinkage can be noticeable.

I have always pre-washed but am making a table runner with some metallic looking prints from Craftsy. They are so beautiful! I did not pre-wash them as this is a piece that won't be washed often. I too like to "play" with my new stuff. Most things I fold and then iron when I get ready to cut them. Macybaby, can I come "play" at your house?

I prewash and dry all my fabric for quilts twice. Also helps me to find out if I have any colors that may run.I do not wash and dry my batting and I get that lightly puckered look when the quilt is done and laundered a final time. I too like that look.

Nope, don't pre-wash and have never had a problem with bleeding or the like.

I never prewash anymore because of all the raveled fabric. It's a waste. I have never had fabric to bleed into the other colors. Been lucky I guess.

The only brand of fabric I don' t prewash is Quilting Treasures. When they process their fabric, they give it a hot water bath at the end...which would take care of shrinkage and any dye problem. Everything else gets washed.

I don't prewash. Just too lazy to, so far no problems.

I also do not prewash unless I think there is a reason to. Some fabric is so stiff off the bolt that I might just to get out all the sizing or whatever it is in there. I actually won't buy fabric that doesn't feel nice, but I have a sewing friend who will buy anything, so her stuff will often be washed before I will use it (or not). We pool all of our fabric at my house, but her taste in fabric is so far from mine that it is rare that I want to use hers anyway.

I believe crinkling has more to do with the batting shrinking than with the fabric shrinking. I prefer a non-crinkled quilt, but even with pre-washing fabric and batting, and air drying, I still get a significant amount of crinkling.

I pre-wash for the reasons mentioned, and because fabric shrinks unevenly, so I'd rather the shrinking occur before the fabric is stitched.

I prewash, almost always.

I don't prewash any pre-cuts, that's a recipe for disaster.
I don't prewash fabric that I'm going to be cutting into for a stack & whack, it's too hard to line everything up after washing.
Sometimes when I'm in a huge hurry, I won't pre-wash yardage - but I always feel it's very risky and don't like doing it that way.
I also don't like the way unwashed fabric feels.

But by and large, I'm a pre-washer. I want to make sure the fabric behaves, but more than that is the fact that I want to remove as many chemicals from my environment as I can. I handle fabric a lot as I'm sewing it, so I want to get rid of all the pesticides and sizing and who knows what else it's been treated with on it's long journey from the cotton field to my sewing room!

I try to pull the fabric from the dryer when it's still just a little bit damp and drape it on a drying rack to let it completely dry - that makes a big difference with wrinkles. Then I wrap it on comic book boards into little mini-bolts for storage. It is a little bit of work, and I often end up with a small mountain of fabric waiting to be "processed" after splurging at an expo or while on vacation, but that's a GOOD problem to have!

Honestly the hardest part of the whole process is getting it nicely folded on-grain lengthwise, but I've gotten really good at wrestling big hunks of fabric by myself. Practice makes perfect! :)

I always pre-wash my fabric mainly because I come thru the laundry room from the garage and just drop the fabric in a basket to be washed. I feel it is softer and if there is going to be any bleeding of any fabric it will be done before I start my project. I always separate my fabric darks (deep reds and dark blues) from the lighter colors.

This is a 'discussion' that will continue thru the ages - to wash or not to wash. I am a firm believer in it is your choice! The only thing I would caution you about is that if one of your fabrics has been prewashed, then you should probably wash the others. If you prefer the more puckered look, then you should not prewash to allow for puckering.

I wash mine as soon as I buy it. As for ironing...I find that I don't mind doing that. Just don't asked me to iron a shirt! If I do it as I buy it, I don't end up with a lot of washing and ironing to do. It is ready to pull off the shelf and use.

I never pre-wash. If a fabric looks strange to me (not going to explain strange), I cut a smidge off the corner and wet it, lay it on a white paper towel to see if it bleeds. I used to wash everything until I got a huge amount of yardage on sale and after that, I stopped. My quilts are simple, no heirloom quilts from me.

Friends I had no idea that there was so much debate. As a garment sewist I had it it in my mind ( for some inexplicable reason) that quilters didn't prewash. Now I know better!

I have a feeling that I'm going to pre wash my yardage when it gets here... it's what I'm used to and I really hate the smell of the treatments that are put onto fabrics. Also I like to have my fabric fresh and clean for my precious Juki lol! 6

I didn't when I first started quilting, but now I would definitely advise washing everything. This is because I made an appliqué quilt with red on it, and I'm terrified of it bleeding if I wash it. Lesson learnt.