bearisgray

I am in the wash-before-cutting group.

In fact, I now soak fabrics in hot water for at least two hours before they get washed with a gentle detergent in cool to warm water on a short cycle. (Like colors together, in case one of them is a bleeder.)

Then dried "until done" in a dryer - or line dried when a dryer is not available.

My opinion is:

It is lengthy agitation and/or overloading in a washer and overloading in the dryer that cause that "used" look that is caused by the fabric(s) rubbing against each other that causes abrasion.

The fabrics should not be crammed or tightly packed in either the washer or dryer to have good results.

Tartan

​I usually only wash if I suspect I may have a bleeder like dark red, purple etc. I will also wash if the primary background fabric will be white.

Cari-in-Oly

I pre wash if the fabric is flannel. The only time I pre wash cotton is if I'm garment or home sewing, for example the crib sheets I just made.

Cari

Jane Quilter

I, as a minimum, dip in hot water, and let dry. Then iron & starch. Always checking for bleeders and attempting to obtain similar shrinkage in the final quilt top flimsey. This is what I do when I don't prewash. I never prewash my batting. But I use 100% cotton batting expecting a shrinkage of 3 to 5% to make that vintage krinkle!

cashs_mom

I do prewash some fabrics. I don't overload or over agitate my fabrics and have never seen the used look. I'm not ever sure how you could get a used look in one washing. If the fabric is prone to fading etc, its going to do it when its made up and washed anyway so it doesn't really matter.

Jingle

I pre wash all fabrics in Coldwater Tide and dry them on regular in my dryer. I would never use hot water nor soak them. I never overload washer or dryer. I dry one piece at a time if it is several yards. After dry I put on glass topped dining table and smooth out and fold over my 6 x 24" ruler.

joyce888

I wash with a pre-wash solution (synthropol?). Two hours soaking in hot water would never be done during a normal wash so I treat my fabric the same way it will be treated when complete. Cool water wash with very gentle soap and dried on warm setting.

NJ Quilter

I pre wash but simply as I do any of my other laundry. Warm water; regular detergent; toss in the dryer until done. Granted, it's usually a wrinkled mess at that point, but, oh well. Just part of the process for me. I come from a garment background of a bazillion years ago, so pre-washing was just 'what was done'. Haven't changed my habits. It works for me.

Mariposa

I pre-wash all my fabrics, due to chemicals, smells, etc.

bearisgray

A lady/blogger named Vicki Welsh has some interesting commentary about this:

https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/sav...ing-quilt.html

http://www.gqccc.org/wp-content/uplo...icki-Welsh.pdf

PS Someone else mentioned this thread before - sorry - I don't remember who it was.