pre-washing?
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 107
pre-washing?
I purchased pre-cut fabric from fabriceditions.com; my question is should I wash the pieces before cutting and sewing for a quilt? Or should I create the quilt and wash afterwards? I wonder how the fabric will hold up through washing? will it ravel very much? I really don't want to iron all the pieces before I can get started. thanks for any comments.
#3
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Horse Country, FL
Posts: 7,341
I wash after the quilt is finished when using precuts. Some folks go ahead and prewash them. With asthma, usually I make sure to wash fabrics as soon as they come home, but I'm afraid that prewashing small precuts would end up being a mess of tangles and frayed fabric. So I don't prewash the precuts. You could test a piece and see what happens.
#4
Same here-I don't ever wash precuts. In fact, I quit buying precuts just in case I want to prewash. I generally don't but sometimes feel I want to depending on the project. For example, if I don't want the crinkly look or if I'm making something more fitted like a bag or an appliance cover.
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 5,896
I've washed smaller pieces, in lingerie bags, on gentle cycle. They did fray just a little but not enough to make a difference. I took them out of the bags, to tumble dry. I'm just one of those "crazy" people, who washes all fabric, before using it.
#6
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: England Alton Towers
Posts: 6,673
I do try to wash before using but it doesn't always happen. One reason I wash first is to reduce bleed. Nothing worse than to have a quilt ruined when it is washed when finished due to a colour bleed even with colour catchers in the machine.
A final wash before giving makes the quilt go puffy. I don't wash baby quilts I give them to mum to use her washing powder. I come from a family allergic to certain brands so would hate a baby have the same problem
A final wash before giving makes the quilt go puffy. I don't wash baby quilts I give them to mum to use her washing powder. I come from a family allergic to certain brands so would hate a baby have the same problem
#8
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Northern Michigan
Posts: 12,861
you will get lots of answers on both sides of the fence- there are people who pre-wash everything- regardless of size- there are some who pre-wash nothing ever- then there are some of us who pre-wash some of the time- with pre-cuts I generally do not pre-wash- if they are batiks or hand dyes and deep saturated colors I am worried may run I will do a color test to see (dampen a piece & rub a piece of white muslin or a paper towel on it to see if color comes off) my 'rule of thumb' for pre-washing is- if the fabric (whole yardage-not precuts) smells funky, feels funky, is stiff, might bleed, (batiks/hand dyes) , is a loose weave (needs tightening up a bit) I prewash- if it has none of these issues I may not- I do always wash my finished quilts- as soon as the binding is done- last step to a finished project is the laundering step. everyone has their own ideas concerning pre-washing. but I pretty much never pre-wash pre-cuts until they are used/finished
#10
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Oxford, CT
Posts: 126
Pre washing is a personal decision based on fabric type & circumstances. Batiks, for example, are already pre-shrunk, but some people like to pre-wash to remove excess dye. I personally rarely pre-wash. I don't have time enough in my life to quilt much less pre-wash & iron my fabric before hand LOL. But I can understand prewashing. it does make your quilts flatter. I personally like the shrunken look of quilts that are not prewashed so that the batting & fabric shrinks all at once. If I mix batiks & regular cottons, or regular fabrics & flannel, I would pre-wash to make all the fabrics "the same". whatever you decide, be confident & informed in your decision. You can pre-wash sometimes for a particular quilt & not for another, too.
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