why you do not wash fabrics before cutting?
01-22-2015, 12:56 PM
#51
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 5,896
Funny, I don't generally starch after I pre-wash my yardage but it sounds like many of you do(?). I rarely rarely rarely use starch at all, usually only when dealing with pieces that are cut on a bias, and even then I usually only remember to starch after they've all been cut out!
I also don't iron my yardage after washing. I pull it from the dryer when it's still a bit damp (my dryer conveniently has a setting just for this) and let it hang to dry completely, then wrap it on comic book boards. That keeps it pretty flat. I usually have to kiss it with an iron before cutting, but just briefly, to get the fold lines out and maybe smooth some wrinkles near the selvedge..
I'm getting to the point where I DON'T like the feel of unwashed fabric, because I'm so used to handling pre-washed stuff. I feel like I can't tell what the hand of it is really like. I'm not going to be starching it once it's in a quilt, so I want to know what it feels like without any sizing/starch.
Good thing there's no quilt police, so none of us are doing it "wrong".
I also don't iron my yardage after washing. I pull it from the dryer when it's still a bit damp (my dryer conveniently has a setting just for this) and let it hang to dry completely, then wrap it on comic book boards. That keeps it pretty flat. I usually have to kiss it with an iron before cutting, but just briefly, to get the fold lines out and maybe smooth some wrinkles near the selvedge..
I'm getting to the point where I DON'T like the feel of unwashed fabric, because I'm so used to handling pre-washed stuff. I feel like I can't tell what the hand of it is really like. I'm not going to be starching it once it's in a quilt, so I want to know what it feels like without any sizing/starch.
Good thing there's no quilt police, so none of us are doing it "wrong".
Anyway, I wash the fabric and then fold it, straight from the dryer. Sometimes it needs a light touch-up, just before cutting, but usually not. It's never 'limp' because I try to stay away from very thin fabric.
01-22-2015, 01:16 PM
#52
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Puget Sound WA area
Posts: 300
I started out washing my fabric but soon got tired of ironing out the wrinkles. This last quilt I made (block of the month) I wasn't able to pre-wash (since we cut/sewed the block in class). I LOVED how it shrunk and gave it that pretty quilt look when I washed it after it was completed!
01-22-2015, 01:29 PM
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Bay area CA
Posts: 887
I don't wash whites or precuts. And normally don't use precuts. Occasionally I'll use 2 1/2 inch strips in coordinated sets for something but they will fray if you wash them first. But everything else? Darn tootin'. I need to have a color bleed on me after 60 or more hours on a quilt like i need a hole in the head.
tim in san jose
tim in san jose
01-22-2015, 02:35 PM
#54
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Outside St. Louis
Posts: 38,224
I always prewash my fabrics when I bring them home. When I am ready to use they are too. I have lots and lots of large yardage pieces. If I fold them with a ruler as soon as they are dry I don't have to iron anything but the folds.
I always wash the finished quilt too.
I always wash the finished quilt too.
01-22-2015, 05:41 PM
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: in my stash mostly
Posts: 882
I do not prewash.....WHY......'Cause I'm an old woman and I would rather wash them afterwards because I like the look of them afterwards.....don't have enough time left for all that washing and ironing, want to make as many of them (quilts) as I can so my children will have more to fight over.
If you prefer washing first do that! If you don't want to wash first Don't!
To each his own and only you can determine what you, personally, want to do.
Just enjoy your quilting......doesn't matter which way you do it, just like the toilet paper thing....you know, out facing or inward facing....it will still work.
delma
If you prefer washing first do that! If you don't want to wash first Don't!
To each his own and only you can determine what you, personally, want to do.
Just enjoy your quilting......doesn't matter which way you do it, just like the toilet paper thing....you know, out facing or inward facing....it will still work.
delma
01-22-2015, 06:48 PM
#58
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,811
I think the real reason I don't prewash is laziness. It is to much trouble to deal with all those strings and wrinkles. I like the fabric with body because I find it easier to cut and sew. I did wash blue batiks in sythrapol to set the colors because I was using stark white as the other fabric. I wash with a color catcher.
01-22-2015, 07:10 PM
#59
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: NJ
Posts: 622
I am surprised to see so many people don't wash fabric before using. I do. I learned from books and that is what was indicated. I wash like colors or shades and use Color Catchers.
The dryer has a setting that seems to remove some of the wrinkles. Generally, I don't iron until I'm ready to use it. If something is really wrinkled I will iron it to avoid those permanent creases that nothing will remove.
The dryer has a setting that seems to remove some of the wrinkles. Generally, I don't iron until I'm ready to use it. If something is really wrinkled I will iron it to avoid those permanent creases that nothing will remove.
01-22-2015, 07:11 PM
#60
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 493
Personally, I don't wash prior to using fabric because I LOVE the look of a quilt that has the little puckers in it after washing. Plus, that tiny bit of puckering helps to hide any mistakes you've made. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to my quilts because I'm of the opinion that any imperfections that still show tend to let the recipient know that I loved them enough to continue on with their quilt in spite of any difficulties I might have faced with it.
Donna
Donna
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