Cybrarian

I have several pieces of good quality flannel I purchased for a baby quilt that never got made. (The intended recipient never knew about it so no hard feelings-except my self directed Lectures, which is tiresome when I don't listen to myself...) I have a friend who is looking forward to her first Grandbaby, and if it is a girl I want to use this flannel. My question is do I need to prewash it if none of it has been washed? I've used flannel with cotton and double or triple prewashed that. I'm wondering if prewashing is neccessary if the baby quilt is going to be all flannel. Thanks for your advice!

quiltingcandy

I always pre-wash flannel. It shrinks a lot and you are never sure how much and which direction.

Deb watkins

Wash and dry flannel.....it does SHRINK!

mom-6

Flannel is the only fabric I will consistently prewash. I use the hottest setting on my washer and dryer. Want to be sure it does any shrinking before I cut.

NJ Quilter

I, too, would wash flannel. Granted, I'm a pre-washer to begin with but even if not, I'd surely wash flannel. It does shrink far more than traditional cotton due to the looseness of the weave - even good/high quality flannel. Just it's nature.

Jeanne S

I also always pre-wash flannel because it usually shrinks more than regular cotton and I want that done before making the quilt.

cjsews

Yes, definitely. It will probably shrink more in one direction than the other.

Tartan

Okay I am going to go against the norm. If it had a cotton top and flannel back I would prewash. If the baby quilt is going to be all flannel and you don't have a fabric that is a bleeder ( check with a small piece) I wouldn't pre-wash.
If you wash before you might get pills or very wrinkled fabric to work with.Do you want to know if the flannel is going to pill before using it? That's your call but I like a nice new looking flannel quilt for gifting and then include washing instructions with it.

pocoellie

If you wanted to do a rag quilt, don't pre-wash, otherwise, I would definitely pre-wash the fabrics.

GingerK

Okay, Tartan brought up a good point. My only concern would be that the quilt might end up being only 3/4 of the size you started with.