Batting gone bad?
 

I've been using up the batting I've collected from donations and yard sales, and as I was trying to pull some out of the bag, it just sort of...shredded and disintegrated. I've never seen anything like it. It was almost more like stuffing than batting, and it was definitely supposed to be batting.

I'm wondering if it was just too old? Never really thought batting could go bad...

I've had batting that was maybe 10 yrs old and it was still good. Was it still in the original package? Never hear of batting going bad.

Sounds like the batting was not needle punched. Sometimes there is resin involved also, to keep the batting manageable.

My sister sent me a couple of quilts to quilt for her and included batting for both. The first batting had already been opened, so I used it first. What a nightmare! It is all cotton, but has not been needle punched or whatever they do to make the batting hold together. I managed to get the quilt loaded on the frame okay but the batting stuck to everything that came near it. I will definitely suggest that she let me get the batting in the future.

We got one of those velvet like blankets from a garage sale and it looked new. When we pulled it out of the plastic bag, it shredded. It could be a chemical reaction to heat and being stored in a plastic bag.

That might be it. It was in a plastic bag that actually said "Joann's" on it -- and I don't recall ever seeing that sort of packaging in my life. I think it was old and perhaps not stored well.

Oh, well, easy come, easy go!

Plastics or oil based fibers , will appear to disinegrate after exposure to long periods of heat. We have all been taught that oil based fibers will last forever... it is true the molicules will be around long after we are gone. But they may not be connected to each other as originally manufactured. Many cotton battings have a poly scrim. That does not mean your quilts made from man made oil based battings will have te same result.. there needs to be a catalist , such as heat .
It possible this batting was sorted in an attic or someother place that caused the fibers to break down some.

First I've heard of it, never too old to learn something.