bearisgray

I have acquired more fabric than I've used over the years.

I very neatly ruler folded all of it at one time.

My question/thought is this: Should fabrics be refolded every few years? or is it a waste of time and effort to do so?

I'm thinking that there is probably at least one other person in Quilting Land that has fabric that is more than two or three years old and has been on a shelf, or in a tote, or in a box - untouched for quite some time.

I decided to refold the solid colors - and I saw that some of them have fade lines on the folds - they were kept in a closet. I would say 95% of the pieces are fine. I started out by ironing the pieces, and after a couple of hours of that, decided to hand press them and that would be good enough for this project. I also decided to serge off the frayed ends. Those threads were bugging me. These pieces have been washed. NEXT time, I will serge the pieces BEFORE they go in the washing machine!!!!

I'm not sure if the fades on the fold lines occurred before I got the pieces from my Mom, or since they have been in my custody.

Anyway - the question is: Should one refold fabrics every so often? And why or why not?

nanna-up-north

That's a good question. I'll be checking in to see what the answer is...... I have some fabrics that have been folded for a few years. I do keep most of my stash in a large dresser that doesn't get any sun inside...... I hope that helps.

Doggramma

I think it's a good idea. I've had some fabric for over 20 years. When I took some out recently to use it there was a faded line on the fold line. Whoops.

pocoellie

My fabrics are ruler folded and put into their respective drawers, according to background color. A good portion of them have never been refolded and I've never had a problem with fade lines or anything else.

ghostrider

I've never had any fabric with 'modern' dyes show any fading at all and those processed with the older types of dyes will fade eventually no matter what you do.

My stash is very low-maintenance and I like it that way. I have more than enough to do to single-handedly maintain my house, property, vehicle, appliances, health, animals, budget, relationships, etc without spending time refolding fabric to avoid a possible fade line on the single 9" folded edge of the fabrics in my stash.

For me, the cost-benefit ratio of refolding idle fabric just doesn't support the effort involved.

DebraK

a lot of mine gets refolded when I'm auditioning colors for projects. I pull out stacks and refold a little differently when I put them back. i would say that one way or another my stuff gets refolded maybe once a year as I organize things. I only have two tall book cases of fabric, so it is not too much of a chore. It just sort of naturally occurs.

DebraK

hahaha! well put ;-)

cindi

Oh, HECK no! I'd spend days just refolding, and I'm too dang lazy for that. It would cut into my quilting time, LOL! My fabric is stored in a closed cabinet, so a quick spritz with water and a hot iron gets out the fold lines.

Sewnoma

This is true for me as well.

I've only been quilting a couple years, but I have some other fabrics "stashed", some are from when I was a teenager. They've been stored in clear totes and sometimes indoors sometimes in the garage. No fading that I've seen on my oldest fabrics, but most of them are not cotton so I don't know if that makes a difference.

My oldest fabric is some that my mom bought to make a baby quilt for me (but never did); it's a heavier cotton but no fading there either. Stored same as I said above. That fabric is nearly 40 years old now.

ManiacQuilter2

I have also had some faded areas on some of my fabrics. Depending on the light coming into your room, maybe every 2 or 3 years??