Batting Prewash Question
 

My quilt is pieced from old denim jeans and the back is minky. Should I prewash Hobbs batting or any batting for that matter when the quilt top and back are already pre washed and/or will not shrink? And what is the trick to prewashing batting. I destroyed batting when soaking/spinning in washer—as directed by manufacturer’s instruction.

I don't prewash batting but I do run it thru a cycle on the dryer. My dryer has what it calls a "steam cycle". What really happens is that it squirts some water on the batting and then dries it. You could probably do the same thing by putting a damp towel in the dryer with the batting.

Read the instructions that come with the batting.

I have soaked warm and natural batting in hot water for a co I ple of hours, then washed it - gently - with a small amount of detergent.

Then I dried it in the dryer.

Turned out fine.

I also washed something that I thought was batting - it turned into a soggy, shredded mesd.

I've never washed batting and probably never will. I do put cotton batting in the dryer with a small damp towel if it's very wrinkled.

It sounds like you don't want any shrinkage in your quilt. If you use a cotton batting, it will have some shrinkage, and result in some puffiness in the quilt top and backing. If you use a poly batting, it won't shrink, so that's probably your best option.

both times I have attempted to wash batting, have turned out badly. Actually, the one time, I just got the poly batting damp, tossed it in the dryer on "warm" to get the wrinkles and fold marks out (king sized packaged batting). That one ended up with sort of "crispy parts" which ended up trimming off and also had to make a dart like thing in the middle of it. Will not attempt to get the wrinkles out of a poly bat in the dryer again. The second time I found a mystery batting in my stash and decided to wash it gently and it went puff, disintegrated, little bits of fluff all over. Nope, not washing battings again. OK, now I mostly use batting on a roll, end of the wrinkled problems and shrinkage clearly indicated on the roll. I don't usually prewash fabric, and don't mind the small about of shrinkage my cotton/poly batting does. And the all poly batting doesn't shrink much at all. My recommendation is to know your batting and buy the one that shrinks or doesn't shrink to your liking.

I used to prewash batting. Filled washing machine with water. Kept pushing the batting down until it was totally soaked. NO AGITATION. Just spin dry then toss into the drier. Never a problem. Hope this helps.

I have prewashed batting by soaking in a tub, then wringing by hand between towels, then drying in the dryer. Hobbs cautions against prewashing batting, but that could be because they don't want to be blamed if it doesn't go well.

I didn't use batting with a minky backing for my denim quilt.