Jane Quilter

works for me....try their main website and click on laundry:
https://www.fisherpaykel.com/us.html

I bought mine at Lowes.....(again 20 years ago)

joe'smom

I've only had top loading machines; our new one doesn't have a central agitator, but I still get the fraying (it doesn't seem to matter what setting I use). My preference is to zig zag my edges before washing, but if I'm in a hurry or have quite a few pieces to wash, I just clip the edges in a few places; this at least stops the fraying from going all the way across the fabric, so the frays don't cause tangling and excessive wrinkling.

toverly

I think the fraying is due to the quality of the fabric. Some lines fray so much when sewing I can't imagine what they do when prewashing. Though agitators do seem to stretch out the fabric more (I've observed tshirts). I have heard of some quilters, serging the ends to keep fraying in check.

DogHouseMom

I've always pre-washed and I can say that there were fabrics that frayed more than others. Some may be due to the cut (ie if it was cut slightly off WOF), but for the most part I think the quality of the fabric played a LARGE part on how much the fabric frayed and shrunk.

Back when I was building my stash and buying a lot of fabric, I actually kept a log of which brands shrank and frayed the most. I'm in the middle of moving now so I can't dig it out (and there is every possibility that I tossed it). I do remember there being a correlation between the manufacturer and the amount of "loss". Off the top of my head though, I know batiks frayed and shrunk the least amount - due to the tighter weave.

Yes ... it got the point where I could touch the fabric and know if it was going to shrink and fray a lot. I could feel the looser weave and learned to stay away from those fabrics unless I absolutely had to have that particular print.

Macybaby

I have a top loader and prewash just about everything. I put it on the gentle agitation cycle for wash, and regular for spin.

I have minimal fraying, and if there are longer threads, I just snap them off before I put it in the dryer. It's never been anything I'd consider significant.

I will add - it's been a long time since I've bought fabric that was not LQS quality.

osewme

I generally don't prewash my fabric but if I do I use one of those lingerie bags to wash it in. I don't buy big yardage so most of my fabric will fit in a large bag. I seem to get less fraying when washed in a bag.

costumegirl

I have a top loader and usually pre-wash all fabric if I can - I zig-zag the edges first and get little to no fraying. As mentioned, if I don't use the fabric right away, l know whether it has been washed.

Cari-in-Oly

Personally, I can't stand front loaders or the top loaders without an agitator. I inherited a brand new set that was a top loader without an agitator and promptly gave them away. Wish I had kept the dryer though. I really, really miss my old 1964 Frigidaire set. That was the best washer I've ever had. I kept it going as long as I could, up into the early 90s until the timer switch finally burned up and it just couldn't be fixed any more.
But on topic, as a rule I don't usually pre wash, but if I'm going to machine embroider on something I'll wash it first so there's no shrinking after the embroidery is done. I serge the edges first so there's no fraying.

Cari

Peckish

We got sucked into the hype and thought a front loader would be better. Nope. I don't think our clothes have been clean clean since 2006.

I understand that phosphates and high water usage (supposedly) are bad for the environment, but man, I sure do miss those days.

PatPitter

I love my front loader washer. This weekend I washed a large stuffed animal in it with no problems, something I couldn't do in a top loader with an agitator. The animal is a rather stiff dog that has been in the family for 25 years. He is now looking nice and clean.

I prewash most fabric. I think the fraying is more about the type and quality of the material.