Hi All,
I just now today stumbled on this site through a Dear Jane group. As I was trolling around the pictures and comments I thought, 'I'll just bookmark this so I can look around and see if I want to join at a later date.
Then I came across the pre-wash question which lit up my buttons!
I am an avid washer after spending numerous hours on something and having it run. I also have noticed some fabrics shrink at different proportions so you may have one fabric shrinking greatly while it's neighbor that you have pieced to doesn't shrink at all. It makes me manic!
All fabric goes to the laundry room after purchase. If it gets to my sewing area that means it's pre-washed.
Pre-washing is just a term. If you are using a washing machine the agitation will really be harsh and you will get lots of raveling fabric. To avoid agitation I do this. I have a huge white bucket in my laundry room sink. I turn on the hot water and fill the bucket with the hottest water and put the fabric in. Lights with lights, reds separate, darks together ... you get the picture. After about 20 minutes I go back to see if there are any bleeders. If not I then pull the fabrics out and squeeze to get much of the hot water out. Fill up trusty bucket with very cold water and plunge in to the cold water and let sit about 20 min. Remove fabric, squeeze much of the water out, dry in a hot drier, remove and fold and bring to sewing area.
Not only are you pre-shrinking and removing all that chemical fabric sizing you are also identifying bleeders. You are leveling the playing field by shrinking so that all the fabric in finished quilts now behave the same if they get laundered.
Bleeders identified in the hot soak---> Remove the offending fabric, squeeze excess water, dry in a hot drier. Treat this dry fabric with a product called retayne. Follow product directions. I usually go a step further by adding a small teakettle of boiling water to my super hot tap water to the bucket with the retayne water.
As I said, I'm pretty manic about the pre-wash topic. Looking forward to participating in this group. Hope I haven't pushed anyone's buttons in a bad way by my strong response. And it is my first post!