StitchinJoy

Just as a note-- many battings also shrink a bit. I always read the label when I am deciding which batting to use in which quilt. Sometimes I want a puckery antiquey look, like on my reproduction quilts, so I want the batting to shrink up a bit.

On my favorite battings, these are the shrinkage rates.

Hobba 80/20 shrinks about 3% after washing, warm or cool.

Quilters Dream 100% cotton shrinks 1% in a cold wash and 3% in a warm wash.
Quilters Dream poly shrinks only in warm wash, 1%.

Ironically. Quilters Dream Wool doesn't shrink. Go figure.

wolph33

I used to prewash-spent hrs ironing wrinkles out.the qtys I buy I would never be able to sew if I had to wash it all 1st.knock on wood-I have never had a problem because I did not prewash and saved a lot of water,time and effort

Scissor Queen

It's very possible they are treated different if it's a home dec fabric. Home dec fabrics aren't necessarily meant to be washed. It might have been a dry clean only fabric.

butterflywing

lots of people don't prewash for lots of reasons. you have to do something to the ends so they don't turn into a thready mess.
you have to separate colors to avoid bleeding or use a color catcher or synthropol. and then you have to fold and press.
sad to say, there are no shortcuts that i ever found to work.

others prewash because because fabrics are not woven to the same thread count and will shrink unevenly. if the colors are going to bleed let them bleed now. if the fabric is going to end up limp as a rag let it happen now. if the fabric has been exposed to harmful chemicals (they are) not everyone wants them in the sewing room. fabric is manufactured in 3rd world countries and brought here. what else came along for the ride?
also, i recently was given fabric that i thought wasn't good enough to use, but after prewashing, it shrunk in and got tighter. so, fabric that i would not have used before, i was happy to use after washing. score one for me.

i'm a firm believer in prewashing. i want to know how much fabric i really have after shrinkage and warping, even if it means more work for me now. as for the 'wrinkly look', batting shrinks enough to get that look anyway.

jljack

Yes, that's how I get the "antique-y" look of my quilts. The Warm & Natural I use does shink slightly, just enough to give it that "used" look.

KarenR

I thought I read that too!!!
No prewashing for OBW

Marion T

what a lot of discussion this topic always generates!! I never prewash as I like the fabric as it comes off the bolt. I always wash my quilts when they are finished, and have never had a problem - some of the fabrics don't even wrinkle up all that much - depends on how much quilting. It really is a personal choice, and I can't see the point of washing all the sizing out and then starching the hell out of the fabric to make it stiff again!

Robinlee

ohhhhhhhhh.........as a past 4-Her, being taught to pre-wash fabric before making clothing and whatever else, didn't change for me when I started quilting. Old habits are hard to change. But I also learned something else. I buy most of fabric at quilt shops, so I do buy quality stuff, fat quarters and larger amounts. My third quilt I completed 8 years ago was for my daughter and husband. I prewashed all the fabrics, a navy blue (Nancy Crow), a bright yellow, white fabrics with scrappy blocks (misc scraps from 20 years of sewing and quilting). Used a marking pencil made for quilting to mark personal design long-arm quilting on borders. Once LA quilting was completed, put binding on and did a final washing before it was given to the kids. My mother was just sick, when she pulled it out of the washer.......the blue ran, ran, ran...the yellow ran, ran, ran. And to top it off........the varigated thread (high-end)purchased at a quilt shop also ran for all it was worth too.........My mom felt so bad, because of the work I had put into, and knew that I had washed everything before hand, and also knew that I had hand washed in kitchen sink (HOT water) the "blue" before I put it in the washer for a general wash. As you can tell I was't taking any chances. Well even after that, it still ran.

Yes, we don't like the threads from the fabric after a washing, but my cure for me, is to only "fill" in hot water, run on gentle cycle, and "spin" twice. It cuts down on the threads that we get. As to the fat quarters, and I just also include doing this for the Jelly rolls, I wash in hot water in the kitchen sink or very large bowl. I have found that using my spagette spoon for stirring helps "stir-out" any color that might be left on them. You will be surprised how many times it will take to hand rinse before the water is clear. then I run on the gentle cycle in "spin" mode.

I have use the "color catchers", and believe they work really well. I even include a couple when I've given a quilt to someone with explanation of use. Was told if I had use this for the kids quilt, in the pre-wash stage, may not of had the running of fabrics. Course they had just come-out, so I hadn't heard about them till after this had happened. I now use the "color catchers" when I pre-wash "all" my fabrics whether for quilting or clothes. Then I press them with my iron and starch as I am working on blocks.

Hope I helped someone with my 30+ years of experience with fabrics.

QuiltE

^^^5's from a Canadian past 4-H'er :thumbup:

Any others here with green blood? :) :

Prism99

That's because the batting shrinks.

On a different note, I want to point out that fabrics that are washed will likely shrink a lot more than fabrics that are not washed but heavily quilted into a quilt. Quilting stabilizes the fabric to the batting and backing. A fabric that would otherwise shrink more than the other fabrics in a quilt will only shrink as much as the quilting permits. That's why, for example, people like me who do not prewash fabrics don't see horrific amounts of shrinkage in finished quilts. I just adjust for shrinkage of the batting (about 3% in the all-cotton batting I use), as this is what will control shrinkage of the fabric.