I have alway prewashed my fabric. I enjoy and like the cleaness of it. I use best press on yardage and spray starch on strips and blocks and bricks. So I get the wonderful fresh aroma of best press when I re-iron the smaller pieces.

Today I washed several packs of charms and two of candy bars. Of course they were the right size to begin with. 5 x 5 and 2 1/2 by 5. Not now! I'll have to recut them to a smaller size. They might make it to 4 x 4 and 2 x 5. So much for the quilt I had planned and also the labor saved. I am really disappointed, mostly because of the time. I can still use them in a different pattern, which is good, but not the one I had planned. So not all is in vain. But I now need chocolate. Lots of chocolate!!

:(

So did they shrink that much, or ravel?

Wow...sorry. I'm new to this and have thought about picking up charm packs for my next project. Did they unravel? Enjoy your chocolate!

the fabric companies who cut the specialty cuts always say the pre-cuts are not intended to be pre-washed- but they also say they will not shrink---they just do not know us quilters at all---
i've had the same thing happen- and the lqs told me not to pre-wash- but also said= they won't shrink...well i did - was using for a swap where the rules said must be pre-washed- oh well-
glad you could laugh it off and still use your pieces- i did too- what else are we to do??? :)

they don't (unravel) they shrink a bit

The bars had more unraveling and shrinkage and the charms more shrinkage. It didn't matter which way I twisted and turned the fabric it would not meet the original size.

all the instructions that come with pre-cuts say not to pre-wash.

I'm sorry!

I've got to start reading. Didn't think about instx. Silly me.

Just curious 'cause I'm not a pre-washer, do you you use hot water and a hot dryer? Or do you get shrinkage with cold water, too?

Warm water, hot dryer. It's the same formula I've used for years. I just didn't expect so much shrinkage on such small pieces of fabric.

I prewash everything with warm water that I doesn't get very warm. I do put in a small amount of ammonia in all my colored clothes and that should take care of any sizing that the warm water can't handle. I usually rinse the clothes/quilt material twice. I am more worried about color bleeding than material shrinkage.

If someone purchased one of my quilts I'd advise not to use hot water anyway-bright colors and all (regardless of quilt material or not) don't do well in hot water. I save my hot water (and bleach) for washing my craft and dusting rags.

I prewashed Bali Pop jelly Ross by gently placing them in a sink of hot water and Retayne. I just swished them gently a time or 2 then drained the water. It took several sinks of water before getting rid of the excess dye. I spun them out with a salad spinner than hung them up to dry on a clothes rack. Then pressed. Had very little fraying. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be staying away from charm packs from now on, especially if they contain reds. Count me in the pre-wash category.

I think the moral of the story is to avoid precuts and buy your own yardage, wash it, press it, and whatever you do to it.Will save heartache and labor in the long run.

I wash all the yardage in cold water detergent and use a color catchers after using the pinking rotary cutter on the raw edges leaving on the selvedges (trim those after the drying) and then I press it after it comes out of the dryer (that way I know it is ready to use). I don't wash the pre-cuts but always tell the recipient of the completed quilt to wash in cold water and dry on air only or low and take it out after 10 minutes. I am not sure but in our modern day, cold water detergents to a fine job and on something as time intensive as our quilt work - cold water detergent works nicely. Also, I made the decision to purchase an HE washing machine which gently washes all our clothes much better and our clothes simply don't wear out from washing. My suggestion.