I've tried that "cutting off a corner" thing, too. I also ended up with fraying and ravels.

I still prefer to overcast the edges before washing. That way I only lose the "seam width" when washing. At the current prices of fabrics, I do not want to "lose" any more of the fabric than I have to.

Maybe if you use pinking shears to trim it. I just sew a straight or zigzag seam across the raw edges. It still ravels some but not nearly as much.

The threads don't bother me. Fat quarters go in a mesh bag tho.

I do clip the corners about 1/2" and wash. Yes, there is some fraying but not a a lot. I just clip those and iron and then cut as desired.

Agreed. I snip a little corner off each side prior to washing, then I trim strings off after washing/drying. There's really not much fabric waste.
Regards,
Kif

I wondered if this would really work , I know some swear it does but it never seemed logical that it would. Thanks for showing your results.

I tried it too. Same result....now I pink the edges.

Works for me

I think the next time I have something that needs to be prewashed I'll run an experiment. I'll wash half using a regular full cycle and half using a gentle cycle, no 'adjustments' to the fabric itself (no serging, straight stitching, seaming, zig-zagging, pleating, pinning, corner clipping, block cutting, pinking, overcasting, end joining, etc).

For half the regular cycle batch, I'll trim loose threads and shake out the fabric pre-drying. The other half will go in the dryer 'as is' right out of the washer. Same two cases for the gentle cycle batch.

All pieces will start out with the same measurements and will be cut from the same yardage. Photos will be taken of each step along the way and final measurements will be noted.

The working hypothesis: Machine washing in a gentle cycle followed by trimming threads and shaking out the fabric before machine drying results in no knotting, less fraying, and fewer wrinkles.

What a great reason to go buy 4 yards of fabric!! It's all in the name of Science!

I clip at corners at an angle, sometimes the fabric still ravels, but that is because of a loose weave? Been doing this for years.