Do you prewash and why?
10-23-2010, 04:48 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Macon, Georgia
Posts: 353
I never did the prewashing before joining this board, but now I do. I have really bad allergies but never thought about chemicals in the fabrics might be causing me to have headaches until I read a post on the board. Since I have been prewashing, I don't have the headaches from the fabrics anymore. I also have an air purifier in the room that really keeps a lot of the small particles out ot the air. I grew up with my mom sewing and never knew her to prewash anything, but she was not a quilter either. Most of the clothes she made were poly or poly blend which does not shrink or bleed like cottons. So for me, thank you ladies for the wealth of knowledge you are all so willing to share. I have been washing loads of fabrics in the same color family. For those really small loads, I purchased a portable washing several years ago from EBAY for about $40. I love it especially when I have on 1 or 2 piece of fabric to wash.
10-23-2010, 06:41 AM
#32
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Peoria Illinois
Posts: 115
Originally Posted by Miss Mona
I do not prewash, especially fat quarters. I am in the process of making a quilt. Most of the solid pieces were fat quarters and the background was $5.00 white muslin. I piece my pattern and then quilt the block and finally put it together. While I was piecing a particular block with dark blue (my quilt is all white with various blues as the pattern) some of the blue dye stained my fingers.
I knew I had to get the blocks washed before it was put together so the blue would not fade to the white.. I zigzagged the edges and soaked all the blocks in my tub with lots of vinegar, agitated on delicates and then rewashed to get the vinegar out. I then put in dryer on delicate. I had no place to lay them out, had 72 blocks, so did dry completely.
Then I measured. The blocks were 12 1/2" when they went in and some were as small as 11 1/2" when they came out. I got out some spray starch and ironed and ironed and got most of them back to a 12" size.
Would this make be prewash from now on. No. Even with this problem, I can work around it.
I knew I had to get the blocks washed before it was put together so the blue would not fade to the white.. I zigzagged the edges and soaked all the blocks in my tub with lots of vinegar, agitated on delicates and then rewashed to get the vinegar out. I then put in dryer on delicate. I had no place to lay them out, had 72 blocks, so did dry completely.
Then I measured. The blocks were 12 1/2" when they went in and some were as small as 11 1/2" when they came out. I got out some spray starch and ironed and ironed and got most of them back to a 12" size.
Would this make be prewash from now on. No. Even with this problem, I can work around it.
I will post a picture when I finish. No matter what the reason whether you prewash or not sometimes you are going to run into trouble either with shrinkage or color.
I like the looks of a quilt made with unwashed fabric and then washed when finished. I always wash with vinegar to set the color. There is some shrinkage, but I like that look.
10-23-2010, 08:35 AM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Outer Space
Posts: 9,319
Originally Posted by everybody's mother
Ok Candace, I'm afraid I offended you, sorry. I think she may have been venting and sometimes it is hard to understand the way people go about it,Can we be friends?
Hey, that was a little snippy. She was just answering the question. That is just the way she does it. Let's play nice
:cry:
Not snippy at all. She started the topic and wasn't answering any questions. I still don't get the topic! Don't feel like you have to be my mommy and scold me(everybodys mother indeed).
:hunf:
:?:
Originally Posted by Candace
Originally Posted by everybody's mother
Originally Posted by Candace
Sorry, I don't understand this posting and what it's supposed to mean! If you'd rather go through all that vinegar washing, zig zag sewing etc. rather than just throwing it in the washer and dryer....I don't get it.
:cry:
:hunf:
:oops:
10-23-2010, 10:31 AM
#34
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 180
I always, always prewash every piece of fabric I put into a quilt because of potential differential shrinkage of fabrics not off the same bolt (big trouble if this happens) and because of big surprises I've gotten sometimes expecting some colors not to run and they did, horribly. I've eventually thrown away some blue and some purple charm squares because they just never stop bleeding and eventually it's not worth it to keep trying.
Also, I do most of my quilting for charities involving kids, and I don't want to make a quilt for a kid that might shrink out of shape or the colors might bleed and make it ugly. I want to know when it leaves my hands and goes to some unknown kid that he/she will have something to keep that will continue to be nice and comforting and pretty, not something that I didn't prewash the fabrics for because I liked the look of new fabrics better. Just my personal take on it!
Dana
Also, I do most of my quilting for charities involving kids, and I don't want to make a quilt for a kid that might shrink out of shape or the colors might bleed and make it ugly. I want to know when it leaves my hands and goes to some unknown kid that he/she will have something to keep that will continue to be nice and comforting and pretty, not something that I didn't prewash the fabrics for because I liked the look of new fabrics better. Just my personal take on it!
Dana
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