To pre-wash fabric or not
10-02-2011, 01:37 AM
#71
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Posts: 189
Its a matter of preferance, as you can see from all the answers given. When I first started quilting, I prewashed everything, but now do not, because I get a better cut on the fabric the way it is, also I don't have to worry about fraying ends or lost yardage.
But to prevent allergies, alot of people will prewash.
CruisingStef
But to prevent allergies, alot of people will prewash.
CruisingStef
10-02-2011, 06:35 AM
#72
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Nowhere'sville Ohio (Yorkville!)
Posts: 290
I posted this previously under "What do you think the most controversial topic is in quilting." Pre-washing fabric came up several times. I personally don't find anything that controversial because this is ART! Just because you end up using it on your bed does not mean it is not an artistic endeavor! And the definition of ART is in the heart of the creator. The artist may do as he wishes, it is self-expression! His tools are his own choice. So I personally banish the quilt police from my work! But, I pre-wash.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-154247-1.htm
I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.
Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.
I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-154247-1.htm
I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.
Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.
I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!
10-02-2011, 06:49 AM
#73
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Somerset, England
Posts: 285
Originally Posted by KastleKitty
I posted this previously under "What do you think the most controversial topic is in quilting." Pre-washing fabric came up several times. I personally don't find anything that controversial because this is ART! Just because you end up using it on your bed does not mean it is not an artistic endeavor! And the definition of ART is in the heart of the creator. The artist may do as he wishes, it is self-expression! His tools are his own choice. So I personally banish the quilt police from my work! But, I pre-wash.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-154247-1.htm
I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.
Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.
I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-154247-1.htm
I went to college and got a degree in Clothing and Textiles. I knew how to sew before I got there, they just honed it for me! I have sewn since I was a child, learning to use my mother's treadle machine at 5 years old, making doll clothes. Quilting is a newer area for me and I have yet to make a bedquilt. (I hope to soon, that is why I joined the Board!) But I learned through personal experience and much clothing construction to always pre-treat the fabric as you would intend it to be cleaned later. This includes dry cleaning, but because of health, I avoid all chemicals now. I have pre-washed dry-cleanable fabric to see if I could convert them to the LIGHT-SIDE! LOL If it is going to be washed and dried by machine, I do so before I lay a hand to it. Thinking my fabric could not shrink more than an inch, I made a pair of child's pants that shrank 4 inches, making them unwearable. Other fabrics become wider and shorter, depending on how they are made. You lose length through direct fiber shrinkage and/or relaxation. On a loom the long warp threads are pulled taut during the weaving process and then when water is applied, they relax, regardless of fiber content. Some fibers outright shrink.
Did you ever have a T-shirt that got shorter and wider after washing? It is due to relaxation or shrinkage. Some circular knits twist when they are relaxed by water. Does this bring to mind Tees that once washed have side seams that run at angles instead of straight up and down? I want both to happen to the fabric before I pin the pattern to it. The fiber has not necessarily shrunk, but has relaxed in water.
I am not the quilt police, but I personally don't want to put all my effort into a project and have it ruined the first time it is washed. I have had it happen. Additionally, I have purchased fabric that looked great when it was on the bolt and then found out when it was washed it didn't look so great! If I knew it when it was on the bolt, it would have stayed there and I would not have wasted my money! I don't want to waste my time too! The only time I don't pre-wash a fabric is when it will become so soft that it is not able to be sewn afterward. You see there are ALWAYS exceptions to rules! No quilt police here! Just a little experience. Quilting is an art form, and it is up to the artists to choose their methods. Lets face it, no matter how carefully the artist has worked, how beautifully the art work turn out, or how awful it looks after it is washed, it is not a life and death situation. It will look beautiful to somebody because everybody has different taste!
10-02-2011, 03:01 PM
#74
Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 55
I'm new to quilting - have caught the "disease" through friendly contact and now blame every dollar I spend on them! I prewash out of fear. What do you iron your fabric with and when do you iron - soon or when you decide on that fabric for the project?
10-02-2011, 03:29 PM
#76
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Nowhere'sville Ohio (Yorkville!)
Posts: 290
Originally Posted by blessingscounted
Thank you KastleKitty - precious insight and now I'll never wrinkle my nose about the little extra time and work it takes to prewash - I didn't know the cause of the shrinkage.
As far as after it is washed, I iron my fabric and sometimes spray starch it. Sometimes spray with water because the steam part of my iron doesn't work right. (Need a new one!) I am a stickler for starting with fabric that has been straightened and on-grain, like I do for sewing garments which is different than cutting an edge with a rotary cutter. I guess all the years of sewing has taught me certain things and I use them with quilting. But I would not think anything bad about it if somebody chose not to do the same. I don't have years of experience with quilting! And I have read on the Board that some quilters like the look that they get from working with unwashed fabric, completing it, then washing it to get that shrinkage!
10-02-2011, 05:11 PM
#78
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Southeast Idaho
Posts: 373
I have wondered if the ones who prewash are also garment sewers. I was taught to always prewash any fabric I was making clothes out of. (Don't want it to shrink after it fits the first time!) I prewash because I always have and its habit. Just wondering.....
10-03-2011, 07:08 AM
#79
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: So. Fla now, Va orig
Posts: 1,565
Yesterday I washed 4 yards of a fabric, I planned on needing 3 3/4 so allowed 4 yards for shrinkage, and off grain cutting from the shop. Here is what I ended up with, 5 inches shrinkage on 4 yards, then when I allowed for the straightening up of the fabric from off grain cuts at each end, I lost another 2 inches, altogether 7 inches, so I just squeaked by with the 1/4 yard extra. THEREFORE if you don't plan to wash, plan on that kind of shrinkage/off grain loss when you wash your quilt. This was only 1 fabric and I do not know the shrinkage rate of other fabrics I plan to purchase for this project. Just thought I would share the amount of shrinkage. It used to be that clothing fabrics that were not Sanforized could be counted on to shrink about 2 to 3 percent. I havent seen any preshrunk quilting fabrics out there, to avoid shortage if you plan to pre wash that amount would be a good amount to allow for shrinkage.:)
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