Steaming fabric - what do you think?
 

I was watching an infomercial about the X50mop, that steams floors, grout, etc. They mentioned that you can steam the wrinkles out of clothes. I kept thinking that with all that steam would probably shrink your clothes. Then I had an idea about steaming fabric. If you hung it up and steamed it, do you think that it would shrink the fabric, as well as get the wrinkles out? I know that some people don't like to wash their fabric and just stick it the dryer with a wet towel, supposedly to help shrink the fabric, do you think doing it with a high-powered steamer does the same thing? Or, am I just crazy with wishful thinking? Of course, I just had to laugh at the picture I got of me steaming the heck out of my fabric and it blows away with all that high-power steam.
Mac

I've steamed clothes and don't remember it shrinking the clothes. I've also put clothing in the dryer with a damp towel to get the wrinkles out but never with express intention of shrinking it. I'm not sure steaming it is easier than just washing and drying it.

I don't pre-wash my fabric and I don't use steam in my iron when piecing. So I don't know if my opinion counts.

When I've taught classes, my students will steam their fabrics or spritz them with water and iron, and the fabric always gets warped. I just prefer a dry iron.

However, if I know a fabric will shrink, I'll go ahead and pre-wash and dry it with heat. That's for flannel and duck cloth and clothing fabrics. I don't worry about quilting cottons.

I prewash and dry everything, that way it is clean, shrunk and bled out. That way I get no surprises later.

Most clothes that you buy at a store have been steamed to get out any wrinkles. I don't think that a one-time, light steaming will shrink the fabric much. That being said, I do not steam my quilting pieces, unless I have something that is really stubborn and giving me a hard time. I usually just finger press my pieces as I put them together. The pieces are small and even an 1/16th of an inch shrinkage can make a big difference in the final product.

Most all non pre shrunk cotton fabric will shrink crosswise when wet with anything. Maybe a smidge or a lot. Once sewn with no raw edges (like clothing) the shrinkage isn't usually a problem. The problem is the fabric shrinkage before sewing units together if using steam or spray.

It sounds like it would be a lot harder and more time-consuming than pre-washing. And people who aren't pre-washing are probably happy working with unwashed fabric as it is.

I've heard people suggest that pressing with steam will shrink their units that are made with unwashed fabric. So I would guess that steaming unwashed fabric probably would shrink it somewhat.

My dryer has a steam function, and I have started putting my batting in for a few minutes to steam out the wrinkles. I do was all fabrics before.

To quote Marianne Fons from the book Make + Love Quilts " I do use steam when I press," she says, " until my iron runs out of water. Then I don't." ( page 30). I think that keeps it quite simple. I like i.