EdithV

I have a not-yet-mentioned argument for pre-washing: I love to fondle the fabrics , they become more 'mine' through washing, drying and ironing.

SueSew

IMHO
If you believe it will run enough to bleed into another adjacent fabric and make a mess, do a TEST WASH of a small piece. If it makes a real mess, then pre-wash it.

Otherwise fahgeddaboutit! You wash it to take out the sizing, then you resize it at great length and trouble, plus you have to deal with the unraveling edges. Bah!

Neesie

I always pre-wash. So many times, I've washed fabric and had it bleed and/or shrink. Doesn't matter whether the fabric came from WalMart's bargain bin or the LQS. Most of the time it doesn't but sometimes it does. Why take the chance of having a quilt ruined, if it can easily be avoided. Several times, the fabric never stopped bleeding, even after a dozen washes! Yes, literally - I counted! One is a piece of denim, which I set aside for a dog bed. The other was a lovely piece of blue, which I finally returned to the store.
When I finish a quilt and give it to someone, there's NO way I'm gonna burden that person, with special washing instructions! My quilts are meant to be used and enjoyed, not to be a PITB when it comes time to wash them.

Bottom line is pre-washing takes a bit more of your time BUT once the quilt is finished, you know it can be washed without worry.

DebraK

same here. I see it as a waste of my time and energy. I have no allergies, and knock on wood, no problems with bleeding fabrics after 8 years. I gave up steam, when I gave up ironing clothing ;-)

mighty

I prewash, but not precuts. I do not use steam. More habit and old school was I guess, lol!!!!

Prism99

To this list it's necessary to add those who do not iron until all the piecing is done! I believe Kaye England teaches this method in her classes. Some of her students on the QB have reported back that it works, but I haven't had the courage to try it.

Of course there's also Ginny Beyer who doesn't bother to press seams in any particular direction; she just presses from the top and lets seams fall where they may. She hand pieces all of her quilts so seam direction is not important to her.

In Quilt magazine Aug/Sept 2013 the topic for their "Ask The Experts" page was the pre-wash/not pre-wash question. The six answers were all over. Jackie Robinson and Tula Pink never pre-wash. Pippa Armbrester and Deb Finan always pre-wash. Denyse Schmidt and Liza Lucy pre-wash some projects, do not pre-wash others.

quilter2090

There really isn't any rule that you have to follow. I always pre-wash,but I have allergies, so I have to. Some people don't pre-wash anything. Some people find pre-washing to be tedious, but, I don't. I just throw the fabric in the washing machine and then the dryer. I don't iron until I'm ready to use it. That way I know that the fabric is done with shrinking,bleeding,etc.,before I put it in a quilt. It would really irk me if I had completed my quilt with unwashed fabrics and even with color catchers it bled and ruined the quilt. But that's just me. Do what you want.

michelleoc

Figure out what works best for you. I feel like I have enough laundry to do to begin with, so I don't prewash. I use a dry iron (because I kept getting burned). I sometimes use spray starch/Best Pressed (it's a memory thing with me). Since I use Elmer's to sandwich, I wash all quilts once they are completely finished and throw a Color Catcher in there (ANOTHER thing that I wish I had invented!). Try not to overthink it or you won't be able to get anything accomplished. I've yet to have the Quilt Police storm my house to tell my I'm doing something wrong.

Scuddles

Hello everyone, I want to thank all of you for the information you had given me about pre washing and steam. I never completed a quilt yet. I had my eye on the double hour glass. So I went to JoAnns fabric and bought all my fabric. I washed everything in cold water, dried and pressed. I started cutting out my strips, my sewing machine is a Brother and I started sewing. I then put each block on my flannel wall, to see if I liked it that way. Lets just say I have started a scrap pile. I started crying, ( it has to be hormones, I cry at everything ) My husband felt so bad, he went out and bought me a Singer Fashion mate machine. This time I wanted to make a Rail Fence. I saw on a web site, a June Taylor a Shape, Cut,Pro mat. I love it, every newbie should buy it. So I cut my strips and sewed sewn (however you spell it, lol ) the strips together. I did not know you are supposed to make sure the stitches lock so after all that, I noticed the stitches didn't lock. I changed the tension, I threaded the machine over and the bobbin over. So a friend came over to look at it and said the machine was a lemon. Once again the tears came and my scrap pile got bigger. My hubby took it back and took me to Joanne's fabric and bought me a Husqvarna Viking. I thought you had to order it on line, but they had them right in the store. He bought me the machine and she showed me a bunch of stuff and told me there are free classes, I forgot the date but it's on the calender. I still want to make the Rail Fence quilt. I bought fabric online and I am waiting and I haven't received it yet. Last night I was getting my stuff all together so all I would need would be the fabric. I was changing the blade in my rotary cutter and I sliced the tip of my finger. Again the tears came, not from hormones There was blood everywhere, he called my neighbor who is a nurse to see if I would need stitches. I had a tetnus shot 3 years ago and they are good for 10 years. She said no, but she wrapped me up good and she put these little rubber thing on my finger. I can't take the site of blood so I was light headed and nauseous. My husband took out about 3 or 4 lysol wipes to clean it all. Of course it would have to happen on my right hand, the hand I use. OMG, I didn't realize how long my letter was. Oh well, I have to start buying fabric once again. If anyone knows where there are beginners quilt patterns, Could you please send me the link. I already love Jenny and all of her great tutorials.
Happy Quilting, Lori

AngeliaNR

Oh dear! My advice: take a deep breath, a hot bath, a glass of wine, and don't worry about beginning again until your finger heals!