EasyPeezy

I say do what makes you happy. I use a dry iron as I go then when my block
is finished I press with a damp cloth. That's what makes me happy.

petthefabric

Ditto. Guess it doesn't matter to me or I'd notice. So usually it's a dry iron. When I'm finished with all the ironing, I like to turn it right side up, spritz it, and carefully press, not iron.

chairjogger

Steam-pressing is great. By experience, movement with steam stretch my fabric enough very small piecing did not match.

Tom W

Exactly my feelings as well.

Peckish

I know lots of people are talking about ironing vs pressing and the distortion that can happen, but I've had shrinkage happen with steam. I learned my lesson the hard way when binding and attaching a hanging sleeve on a customer quilt. The customer had given me a very small piece of fabric to use for the sleeve. I cut it, then pressed it with steam. And it shrunk so much I was not comfortable using it for the sleeve. So I steam-pressed the rest of the fabric and crossed my fingers that there would be enough left to cut a second sleeve. (I was lucky; there was.)

Jane Quilter

we didn't dampen cloths, we were dampening & starching shirts for our men using seven=up bottles with sprinkle heads . Especially those heavy oxford white shirts. It relaxed the hard wrinkles and allowed the starch to penetrate the cotton fibers without using a heavy amount of starch. And the shirts were much easier to iron. I loved to iron , but my mother hated it....so when perma press came out, my mother tossed out all cotton and replaced them. (I thought the perma press shirts looked thin and cheap and insisted they still needed ironing....but mom said "not in my house". To bad....I still iron/starch my hubby's shirt and when my daughter's husband was called to serve in the bishopric, she came over for "serious" ironing lessons. LOL

Peckish

Nope, I'm not that old.

*Ducks and runs for cover from the incoming objects being hurled at me*

QuiltnLady1

I have had both shrinking and bleeding happen when I steam (mostly reds and intense blues), so now I prewash.

cashs_mom

My mother did the same and said it was to prevent mildew also. I still remember the sprinkle bottle.