Bearding problem
 

Hi Everyone -

I like to use wool for my bed quilts and I have been using Dream Wool for about five bed quilts over the past year.

I see now that there is major bearding happening on the BACKS of these quilts, but not on the tops. The backs are all dark cottons like navy, maroon or black.

I called the Dream Wool company and they said there is some kind of sulfur in the darker fabrics that draws the wool out like a magnet - but honestly I am finding this hard to believe?

Can people shed light on this problem for me and also, is there anything I can do? The fibers are getting onto my sheets and it's just nasty overall.

I'm so crushed over this!

Thanks,

Lainey

I am also wondering what might be an alternative to wool IF I don't like cotton or poly or synthetics? Is there a natural and warm type batting that has the fluffy feel of wool? Bamboo or silk or something similar?

Lainey

No help here, sorry.

In the "olden days", quilters would encase wool batts in cheesecloth to prevent bearding. I think in your case, for future quilts, I would simply provide an extra layer of fabric between the dark backing and the wool. With machine quilting, I don't think cheesecloth would be enough. I would probably shop for thin muslin and -- even though I don't normally pre-shrink I would pre-shrink thin muslin -- spray baste a layer of muslin to the backing before layering. This should be enough to prevent bearding on the back.

Certain types of cotton batting are the closest thing to wool batting that I can think of. Bamboo and silk would both be much more limp/soft than wool.

I use wool batting only and never have had it beard on me. I just buy what's in the quilt store. I bought some from JA's and it didn't beard either. I wonder if it's the brand you're using. I bet it is. I've been using wool for many years. Try using a different brand. I wash my quilts often, also and no bearding at all.

I've used a lot of wool batts and have never had this problem---most of the quilts I've made with wool batts do have flannel backs- not plain cottons but I've never had this happen- I've used the dream wool batts and the hobbs wool batts I love them both- maybe it has to do with the size needle/thread you used? were your backs pre-washed? I used my first dream wool batt 7 years ago- and the quilt still has not had this happen- it's been washed a dozen or so times (at least) ... but it does have a flannel back---the top is regular cottons though---no bearding anywhere. did you by chance not quilt it as closely as you are supposed to? I would *guess* if you are supposed to quilt every 2"-4" and actually have 6+" between quilting lines there would be the possibility of fiber migration & bearding. I hope you figure out what happened/how to fix it

What size needle so you use for your quilting?

OK, I talked to Carrie Hargrave and she said something that might explain things. She said that the thread count on the cotton backing might be a big factor. There is one quilt that has by far the most bearding and this one is clearly a lower thread count as it is stretchy.

Does this make sense?

But here is what does not make sense.

ALL FIVE quilts, if you look with a magnifying glass you can see the entire surface of the backing is covered with fuzz. You would not see this without a mag glass, but I'm wondering if some of you guys who say you have wool quilts with no bearding would mind double checking for me with a mag glass?

The reason I am wondering about this fuzz is that there is ALSO a bunch of fluffy linty clumps you can see with the bare eye and I am assuming this clumpy stuff is coming from the tiny fuzz?

I would never have checked with a mag glass if not for the clumps, so just wondering if maybe you guys are using high thread count and lighter colored backings, and just have never noticed all the tiny fuzz?

Thank you all!

Lainey

IMHO I was using bamboo batting and had beading. Then I was told, there is a right side and a wrong side to the batting. Yup, ehen I used the shinier side (not real noticeable), it did not bead. Hope this helps.