Warm and Natural vs. Cotton/Polyester Batting!
06-03-2010, 10:14 PM
#31
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: South Puget Sound, Wa. State
Posts: 2,462
Originally Posted by Prism99
Different quilters prefer different battings. Also, different uses call for different battings.
I make mostly quilts to be used; I stopped using Warm n Natural when I realized its drape is stiffer than other cotton batts. It would be my first choice for a wallhanging, though, because of its stability.
I like the look and longevity of antique quilts with cotton batting, so I use the very traditional Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting in almost all of my quilts now. The most I will go on the polyester side is Hobbs 80/20 (80% cotton/20% polyester) and only in that brand. In my experience, polyester is more prone to bearding and turning into little balls with heavy use, although this probably depends a lot on the specific brand of batting. One bad experience was enough to turn me off on polyester.
I am not tempted to use bamboo because I have read that the chemicals used to process the bamboo are very toxic, even though bamboo is touted as being an environmentally friendly and renewable resource.
I make mostly quilts to be used; I stopped using Warm n Natural when I realized its drape is stiffer than other cotton batts. It would be my first choice for a wallhanging, though, because of its stability.
I like the look and longevity of antique quilts with cotton batting, so I use the very traditional Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting in almost all of my quilts now. The most I will go on the polyester side is Hobbs 80/20 (80% cotton/20% polyester) and only in that brand. In my experience, polyester is more prone to bearding and turning into little balls with heavy use, although this probably depends a lot on the specific brand of batting. One bad experience was enough to turn me off on polyester.
I am not tempted to use bamboo because I have read that the chemicals used to process the bamboo are very toxic, even though bamboo is touted as being an environmentally friendly and renewable resource.
K
06-03-2010, 10:20 PM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: South Puget Sound, Wa. State
Posts: 2,462
I have to add...
All of this is of great help to me. I have used mostly poly batting in my quilts. I used what was cheap when I started out on this adventure.
I hesitate now to find another batting...I machine quilt with a domestic machine (no long arm) and my quilts aren't any larger than a queen.
If I wash my fabric how will the batting (warm and Natural, etc) affect my quilt with shrinkage and such???
Will it make it all wrinkly? Should I wash the batting first as well? How do I do that????
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kirsten
All of this is of great help to me. I have used mostly poly batting in my quilts. I used what was cheap when I started out on this adventure.
I hesitate now to find another batting...I machine quilt with a domestic machine (no long arm) and my quilts aren't any larger than a queen.
If I wash my fabric how will the batting (warm and Natural, etc) affect my quilt with shrinkage and such???
Will it make it all wrinkly? Should I wash the batting first as well? How do I do that????
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kirsten
06-04-2010, 12:16 PM
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: central California
Posts: 636
I don't know anything about how toxic the processing of bamboo is, but I do know, from living in cotton growing country, that the defoliants that are sprayed on it before harvest are horrible, so if that is the reason you wouldn't use bamboo, you might want to rethink using cotton also. We also know that the making of polyester is a toxic process. I don't know what the conscientious consumer should do. Hobbs does make an organic cotton batting, I assume that means it is grown and processed safely. We probably need to check with the companies to see just how toxic the processing, etc.. really is.
06-06-2010, 09:50 AM
#34
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Originally Posted by ScubaK
I have to add...
All of this is of great help to me. I have used mostly poly batting in my quilts. I used what was cheap when I started out on this adventure.
I hesitate now to find another batting...I machine quilt with a domestic machine (no long arm) and my quilts aren't any larger than a queen.
If I wash my fabric how will the batting (warm and Natural, etc) affect my quilt with shrinkage and such???
Will it make it all wrinkly? Should I wash the batting first as well? How do I do that????
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kirsten
All of this is of great help to me. I have used mostly poly batting in my quilts. I used what was cheap when I started out on this adventure.
I hesitate now to find another batting...I machine quilt with a domestic machine (no long arm) and my quilts aren't any larger than a queen.
If I wash my fabric how will the batting (warm and Natural, etc) affect my quilt with shrinkage and such???
Will it make it all wrinkly? Should I wash the batting first as well? How do I do that????
Any advice would be appreciated.
Kirsten
I don't prewash fabrics, so the fabrics and batting shrink together. The effect will be much the same even if you prewash fabrics; there is so little shrinkage that any difference between the batting and the fabric won't matter.
I personally wouldn't try to preshrink a batting. Most shrinkage occurs in the dryer, and most battings cannot withstand being tumbled in a dryer by itself while wet. (Maybe WnN can because it's needlepunched through scrim; not sure about that one.) The reason to presoak a batting is usually to make it easier to hand quilt. Presoaking WnN makes it softer for hand quilting; presoaking some of the cotton battings that have resin binders removes the resins that can make needles stick.
If you are unsure about any batting, you can test it yourself. Quilt a piece and then wash it to see what the result is. You can try prewashing and drying the batting. I just wouldn't recommend putting a non-needlepunched batting in the dryer ,as it will probably disintegrate and create a mess in your dryer.
In your situation, I would recommend using Hobbs 80/20 batting. It will look and feel very similar to the poly battings you are used to, and it does not need any pre-soaking. It is good for both machine quilting and hand quilting, and shrinks very little.
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