Washing precuts
#2
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,535
Washing precuts can cause fraying unless you are very gentle. I fill my sink with warm soapy water and genteelly hand agitate the pieces, I let the water drain out and fill with fresh water to rinse. Then put my pieces in a salad spinner to remove excess water and lay the pieces flat to dry.
#3
You will get a wide and varied response, there is no right or wrong answer do what you want to do. Myself, I am not a pre-washer and have not encountered any issues and I use mostly Batik fabrics in my quilting. I personally would not wash anything smaller than a Fat Quarter, fabric is too expensive and my patience is too little.
#6
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: northern minnesota
Posts: 2,480
I washed some once...I think they were fat quarters and oh my, bad choice as a few of them shrunk so I no longer had enough to the pattern. This was a kit I think a Bought at a craft fair. Never again.
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,709
I rarely use precuts. The one quilt I used them on, I didn't pre-wash. Some fabrics in the quilt were washed, some werent' came out fine. In fact, it was one of the most square quilts I've made. I barely had to square it up.
#9
Super Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ballwin, MO
Posts: 4,256
The pre-cuts I normally use are fat quarters and fat eighths. I notch all fabric when washing; this helps control the fraying. The fat quarters I wash as with yardage; the fat eighths I put in a garment bag to wash, but then add to the dryer out of the bag with the rest of the load. I did once wash a jelly roll and a layer cake. The layer cake shrunk unevenly, so that the pieces were no longer square; the jellyroll (pinked edges) did not shrink considerably in width, so I was still able to use as 2 1/2" strips.
#10
I do not wash pre-cuts and have had not problems, On the other hand............... I was given a collection of fabrics by a quilting friend that included many, many, many gorgeous charm squares that had been washed. All are now 4.5 by 4.75. Each will need to be re-cut to be square or used as HSTs or as some cut less than 5X5. .