Joan

I wash mine when I'm going to use it for a project. If I washed and ironed every piece of fabric I brought in the house, I wouldn't ever have time to quilt! :lol:

I'm very careful with reds or any fabric (like batiks) that I think might run. Those I wash with a Color Catcher (made by Shout, you can buy in in the grocery store.

I use fabric sizing (like starch) when I press the fabric. It is a wonderful product and helps to restore the feel of the sizing that gets washed out when you prewash it. Plus, it makes the ironing go faster and the wrinkles go away!

sewjoyce

I usually wait to wash until I'm ready to cut out the quilt. And I always use color catchers. I've found that navy blue fabric runs as much as red fabric....

RedGarnet222

I guess it depends on the quilt design and the fabric. Batiks are a yes mame I certainly do.... always. Some darker fabrics that I think might run ... yes.

When I am going to b using a pattern that has lots of bias seams, usually no, I like the stiffer more stable fabric, as is. A wallhanging that will not get that much use... no. (seasonal)

See where I am going?? It depends ...

Prism99

It's personal preference.

Once I learned that Harriet Hargrave doesn't pre-wash, I stopped pre-washing. I would consider pre-washing if I were going to make an heirloom quality quilt, but the fact is that my quilts are all meant for heavy family use. Harriet Hargrave tests each fabric for colorfastness before incorporating it into a quilt. Basically it is a matter of soaking a small square of fabric in a glass of water, checking the water color, and rubbing the wet fabric on white fabric to make sure no color rubs off.

I test only fabrics I suspect might be terrible bleeders. Usually these are solid or almost-solid reds that don't look or feel quite right, or solid blacks. I haven't found any particular bleeding problem with batiks or prints.

The precaution I take is to always wash the quilt with Synthrapol after it is finished. Synthrapol will suspend any unset dye particles in the water so they get rinsed away and don't have a chance to settle on other fabrics. If I see the wash water color, I do a few subsequent washes with Synthrapol too just to make sure that all of the unset dye is gone.

So far no problem with this approach, and it leaves me more time to actually quilt. Otherwise most of my available time would be spent washing, drying and folding fabric.

I like the heirloom look for my quilts (soft and slightly puffed) so shrinkage of fabric is not an issue for me.

LindaR

I don't wash material before I use it but I do wash my quilts in sythropol.....eliminates running

beachlady

I wash mine as soon as I get it usually, but after reading what Klue wrote I may do it differently! Thanks for that info Klue. Some of my fabric is in drawers, but a good portion of it is not. In the new house have all the built-ins, so may try to use most of those. I like the idea of the indoor clohes line too. That is something else I haven't always done - spray the fabric. This is one great learning place!

MsSage

I dont wash. If I have a red I will wash that. Yes I know it will shrink differently but I like the look of the quilt after.
Realy its up to you. Everyone can give you all kinds of reasons to either wash or not BUT this is YOURS and no one knows what you like or feel comfortable with but you.
Have fun and enjoy

pittsburgpam

I don't wash fabric until I am ready to use it. I get it and store it in my cubbyhole shelves by color or collection. I like that it is nice and neat when folded on the shelves unwashed. When I start work on a new quilt I wash and dry and starch all the fabric for it at once.

Yarn or Fabric

I prewash everything before I put it in my fabric closet. I got annoyed when I was making things that the one fabric that I decided I wanted to use THAT day was not prewashed so I would have to wait 2 hours to start my project so now I prewash everything....

QuiltMania

I wash all fabrics either when I get them home or right before I use them. After I finish the quilting and binding, I wash the quilt. It shrinks a little giving that "antique" look.