Prewashing fabric
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: North Texas
Posts: 19
Prewashing fabric
I am going to make my GS a baseball quilt. I will use navy, red, and gray prints and solid white fabric. I was going to wash the red, but now I am concerned with the dark blue. Should I just prewash all of the fabrics?
#3
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,585
Are you worried about bleeding? If so, may I suggest doing a bleed test? Take a white cotton towel, dampen a corner, and rub it on the fabric for a few seconds. If the towel shows any color, you will need to treat it to prevent bleeding. This method has always worked for me - it's written by a quilter who is a professional hand-dyer.
https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/upl...edingquilt.pdf
https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/upl...edingquilt.pdf
#4
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,666
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Including the gray and white fabrics.
I recommend soaking each of the fabrics (only like colors together) in hot water for a couple of hours and then washing them - gentle cycle, cool to warm water. Dry until "barely done".
Imagine the worst case scenario for how that finished quilt might be washed. I would wash the fabrics, and batting (if it can be washed before it is quilted - not all battings can/should be washed.)before cutting them so there are no unpleasant surprises later.
Your fabrics may all be perfectly "fine" - and you might wonder why you bothered with the fussing.
Or you might find that you have a bleeder - and be grateful that you learned that before you made the quilt instead of after it was washed.
Others will probably give you different advice.
Including the gray and white fabrics.
I recommend soaking each of the fabrics (only like colors together) in hot water for a couple of hours and then washing them - gentle cycle, cool to warm water. Dry until "barely done".
Imagine the worst case scenario for how that finished quilt might be washed. I would wash the fabrics, and batting (if it can be washed before it is quilted - not all battings can/should be washed.)before cutting them so there are no unpleasant surprises later.
Your fabrics may all be perfectly "fine" - and you might wonder why you bothered with the fussing.
Or you might find that you have a bleeder - and be grateful that you learned that before you made the quilt instead of after it was washed.
Others will probably give you different advice.
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 5,973
As you can tell, yes to all of the above. Especially that navy or dark blue. It may have to be washed more than once. I keep washing till the color catcher is light white. I make many Ole Miss quilts in red and blue. It's not pretty when they run together.
#8
Pre-wash it all. Not only will you be safe from colors running after you've completed it but you save yourself from handling fabric with chemicals in it and ensure that it doesn't shrink unevenly from pre-washing some fabrics and not others.
#9
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,867
I prewash everything because of chemicals, insects, shrinkage, color fading, etc. One fabric (a RJR) got past me. When I pressed the blocks, the steam shrunk that fabric and distorted the block. It took some fancy pressing to get it large enough to sew to the next block. Lesson learned.
#10
I've always been a prewasher. Except now, folks know me as the scrap saver and donate a lot. These can't be prewashed easily. I do wash those quilts before donating to the cancer center, though.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post