josieh

Do you wash fabric as soon as you buy it even though you are not going to use it immediately? Or do you wait until you are going to use it to wash it? Does it harm the fabric to wait to wash it, or is it better to wash it and then let it sit for a while (a few months or longer) until you use it? Thanks.

quiltingcandy

For me, I wash it when I get home but I do not iron it until I am ready to use it. When I am ready to cut fabric, I am ready right now and do not want to wait on it. And I have to wash it or my poor fingernails will start splitting and my finger tips get tender. I have never had a problem doing it that way. I read somewhere it is the ironing that is really hard on the fabric - so I don't do it until I need it. (Also, I'm lazy and don't want to iron twice.) Most of my new fabric is washed, dried and then put on the comic book boards when I bring it home, and that helps keep it fairly flat before it gets ironed.

PaperPrincess

Depends if you are sensitive to the chemicals or not. There's no harm to the fabric in letting it sit around until you are ready to use it.

QuiltE

QuiltingCandy couldn't have sit it any better!
When I want to use that fabric, I want to USE it and not lose any time or momentum!
Washed in hot water. Dried in hot dryer. No ironing*. Folded to fit in my stash.
All before it even sees my sewing room and is introduced to its new friends!


*No Ironing* ... likewise, lazy! Why do it twice? It will get done when I go to use it, and if I only need a small piece, chances are I will only iron that small piece before cutting and returning it to its home!


As for letting it sit unwashed .... that's the way it sits in the shops. So why would that be any difference in your home?
Likewise, washing it and leaving it for months ... there's been many a quilt made from years old stash fabric, with no detriments to the end result!
What you have not mentioned is sewing with it unwashed, present or long into the future.

There are pros and cons to all approaches. It's a discussion that has been had numerous times here on the QB, so you might want to refer to the previous threads to gather your rationale.

In the end ... do what works for you!!!!!!!!!!!

ckcowl

Since I walk right past my washing machine when I enter the house I toss whatever fabrics I want prewashed right in & get it done. If I buy fabric from a yard sale, or thrift store, anywhere where the fabric was previously in someone else's home it automatically gets laundered before going any further, new fabrics it just depends on the fabric

bearisgray

Most of my fabtics are fairly smooth after washing - whether dried in a dryer or line dried.

The only times I have had seriously wrinkled fabric were when the fabrics got tangled or twisted in the dryer -either ery skinny strips or very long lengths. The solution to that is to check every so often and straighten the fabtic out. The other causes are poor quality fabric or " cooking" the fsbric with overly high dryer heat

I would say that I can hand press over 95% of the fabrics to be smooth enough to fold and put away until ready to use. As others have said, no need to iron the fabric twice.

As far as when to wash it - for me, anytime before I cut it.

Jeanne S

I don't usually wash until I want to use a fabric. Just comes home and put in my stash until then. But I don't have any fabric allergies.

Vitality

I wash everything when I get it. Or I make a pile of "new fabric" until I have enough to do a load. I like to have it all ready to use whenever I want to use it.

Ariannaquilts

I am a member of the wash all the fabric when I get home. I used to wait but then there were times when I wasn't sure if I had washed and pressed or not so doing it right away I don't have to worry about confusion, also I have never dried my fabrics in the dryer I put them all in a bag while damp take each out and iron.

nuffsaid

I almost always wash the fabric first before I use it; and sometimes I wash it when it first comes home. I just discovered that if I pink the raw edges before washing it, very little unraveling occurs, and then I can tell at a glance which fabric has been washed and which has not.