Wide backing shrinkage ???
 

Purchased 2 pieces of 108" wide Wilmington Fabric from Hancock's of Paducah in early December. Just washed those two pieces as normal - cold wash, less heat dry for short time and finish dry on racks. And yikes, one piece is 99" wide and the other is 100.5" including selvages. Anyone experienced this much shrinkage on the width of fabric?

Yes, I have on the larger ones...I lost close to 10 inches too and ended up piecing a long piece on one side to get the right size. I ended up using that edge as the top one that goes under my pillows on my K-sized bed.

It's one reason I always wash and dry fabric before using.

I had allowed for 3-5% shrinkage. Even Hancock's rep said 5% and when I told her that I did the math and the one at 99" was over 8% shrinkage, she said it depends on how you wash it. Oh well, I will order more to do the binding and it should be here by the time the quilt comes back from LAQ.

Are you sure it was truly 108 before washing?

I didn't measure it as I had allowed for the 3-5% shrinkage. Just got the two pieces laid out to trim for LAQ and thank goodness they weren't wonky lengthwise. Will be a couple of inches short on length but I put in a generous pillow tuck and am using Quilter's Dream so little future shrinkage. Hancock's rep went and had the fabrics measured - she told me they were 108". I used another one Wilmington backing for a bed skirt and had about 4% shrinkage on that one- measured before and after. This is for a whole cloth quilt for a relative who just wanted a "plain quilt". Too close for my comfort! Will post after it is quilted.

WOW, that is a lot of shrinkage.

I prefer wide back but do find that many of them shrink quite a bit (especially muslins) and frankly, think there is no way that it can be wound on a bolt without a fair amount of it being out of square--so I always over estimate when purchasing. I saw the left over and use it for string quilt foundation, etc.

But that does seem more than normal shrinkage and doesn't sound like you caused it by the way you washed it either.

Very true! We were just discussing this at a retreat. And because of this, widebacks need to be ripped, not cut. If the vendor cuts the yardage, it's very possible to end up with less than you requested.

Wow that is a lot of shrinkage. Must watch as I rarely wash the backing.

I just purchased some backings from Hancock's too so hopefully they won't shrink that much. I never wash them ahead of time but afterwards so maybe being quilted might keep them from shrinking as much.................hopefully. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

Same with sheets, customer brought a king size sheet for a backing and after wash/dry, it had shrunk 5 inches, fortunately it was 10 inches bigger than the top to begin with.

I do not prewash backing if quilt top has not been prewashed when using regular quilting fabrics for the back.

I had the same problem with 108" backing from another on-line store. Lost 13" in a cold wash/low heat dry and even more in squaring. Had to buy another 3 yard length and piece the backing :(

I have found that the wide backing don't seem to be of real good quality. It makes for a fast backing but it is not always the best

I received my backing just yesterday, misted it to get the wrinkles out and threw it into the dryer for a few minutes. It shrunk an inch and I doubt if my dryer was on long enough to get that hot. Plus it wasn't a true 108" wide either, short .75 of an inch. Sure hope when I throw it into the dryer next time after quilting it the quilting will hold it from getting any smaller. I never wash my fabrics beforehand but I do starch them by dunking them into a washtub and then pressing them after they're dry so I'm assuming they shrink a little then.

Thanks for the info as I have a couple of wide backs I got from them! Snooze 2978 please let us know how it went with not washing and just quilting. (also how tight you quilted it )

It's cotton, folks! Remember how your jeans used to shrink like crazy after your mama washed them and you had to lie down on the floor to get them back on?! :shock:
I do agree that 10% of 108 inches is a bit much, though.

Jan in VA