I love all your information. I wash all of my fabrics before I use it as well. I learned more about what the different soaps do and that was so helpful. Thanks for sharing.
When my eyes water and I get sneezing fits upon entering fabric stores I realized there was something in the fabrics causing this reaction. I have washed my fabrics for many years. I have a collection of lingerie bags and put 2 or 3 FQs in each for washing and get very little amounts of fraying. Luckily I can adjust my top-loader to a gentle/hand wash cycle and that helps too. I dry fabrics with a couple of dry towels and remove the fabric when it's just dry. Works for me!
I have had to literally leave fabric shops due to overwhelming allergy symptoms 😢. I rarely purchase precut kits with jelly roll strips, charm packs, etc. I can only work with them for short periods due to sneezing and watery eyes. Yes, I wash and dry my fabric purchases.
I always washed my fabrics. Now I have so many projects I don't wash unless dark colors and reds. I only use multiple color catcher sheets in the wash. Thanks for the tutorial.
Thank you for this! When I started quilting in the mid-90s, it seems like everybody pre-washed fabric for all the reasons you give - chemicals/dirt/excess dye in the fabric/uneven shrinkage. I still prewash and some fellow quilters think I’m nuts. Most of my quilts go to a children’s hospital or to friends and family. I also wash those finished quilts before I gift them so I can tell the recipient that a) they are clean and b) they are washable. For both the before and after washes I do a warm wash, gentle cycle, using unscented laundry soap, and a low heat dry without any dryer sheets. Once I tried washing a jelly roll divided into many lingerie bags. That was a disaster! Layer cakes make it through a gentle wash cycle without much more tangling than fat quarters. They end up being about 9 1/2” x 9 3/4” when pressed. Imagine that shrinkage happening in a finished quilt. Again, thank you for the good words for us pre-washers.
You convinced me a while ago to wash my fabric and my quilting (applique & piecing) has improved because of it. Also, because I'm prone to eczema, I find fewer breakouts from all the chemicals that would otherwise be in the fabric off the bolt. I've also noticed that it gives me more latitude in washing parts of the quilt as I go along. I do this most when I'm QAYG appliqueing. Knowing the fabric won't shrink anymore makes this easy. It's an unorthodox practice, I know, to wash parts of the quilt before it is put together, but when I need to do it, I'm always grateful that I can and won't ruin my hard work.
I’m happy to hear that washing your fabric cuts down on your eczema outbreaks! I hadn’t heard that before but it does make sense. Thanks for sharing that!
I prefer to wash fabric prior to cutting. However, when im working with precuts, the shrinkage and fraying are problematic. Eapecially if I've ordered fabric online and it's not available locally, i dont want to not have enough for my project. So i prewash any fabrics over a yard in length, but when working with small precuts, i make the quilt and then wash it with colorguard. Not ideal but saves the work of trying to have enough fabric and reshaping all those little precuts.🤷♀️
Thank you for speaking up for those of us who have always washed our fabric and it not been popular!
I love all your information. I wash all of my fabrics before I use it as well. I learned more about what the different soaps do and that was so helpful. Thanks for sharing.
When my eyes water and I get sneezing fits upon entering fabric stores I realized there was something in the fabrics causing this reaction. I have washed my fabrics for many years. I have a collection of lingerie bags and put 2 or 3 FQs in each for washing and get very little amounts of fraying. Luckily I can adjust my top-loader to a gentle/hand wash cycle and that helps too. I dry fabrics with a couple of dry towels and remove the fabric when it's just dry. Works for me!
I have had to literally leave fabric shops due to overwhelming allergy symptoms 😢. I rarely purchase precut kits with jelly roll strips, charm packs, etc. I can only work with them for short periods due to sneezing and watery eyes. Yes, I wash and dry my fabric purchases.
The quilt behind you is lovely😊
I have always been a prewasher, since I started quilting (~1981?) and I still am.
I always washed my fabrics. Now I have so many projects I don't wash unless dark colors and reds. I only use multiple color catcher sheets in the wash. Thanks for the tutorial.
Thank you for this! When I started quilting in the mid-90s, it seems like everybody pre-washed fabric for all the reasons you give - chemicals/dirt/excess dye in the fabric/uneven shrinkage. I still prewash and some fellow quilters think I’m nuts. Most of my quilts go to a children’s hospital or to friends and family. I also wash those finished quilts before I gift them so I can tell the recipient that a) they are clean and b) they are washable. For both the before and after washes I do a warm wash, gentle cycle, using unscented laundry soap, and a low heat dry without any dryer sheets. Once I tried washing a jelly roll divided into many lingerie bags. That was a disaster! Layer cakes make it through a gentle wash cycle without much more tangling than fat quarters. They end up being about 9 1/2” x 9 3/4” when pressed. Imagine that shrinkage happening in a finished quilt. Again, thank you for the good words for us pre-washers.
I also remember when we all washed our fabric.... I never stopped either.
You convinced me a while ago to wash my fabric and my quilting (applique & piecing) has improved because of it. Also, because I'm prone to eczema, I find fewer breakouts from all the chemicals that would otherwise be in the fabric off the bolt. I've also noticed that it gives me more latitude in washing parts of the quilt as I go along. I do this most when I'm QAYG appliqueing. Knowing the fabric won't shrink anymore makes this easy. It's an unorthodox practice, I know, to wash parts of the quilt before it is put together, but when I need to do it, I'm always grateful that I can and won't ruin my hard work.
I’m happy to hear that washing your fabric cuts down on your eczema outbreaks! I hadn’t heard that before but it does make sense. Thanks for sharing that!
Thank you for all the great info.
Agreed! ❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for the information! I'm supposing that fabric softener is a no-go?
I wouldn’t add it back into the fabric because it makes the fabric too soft.
I have always prewashed my fabrics. Our local longarmer requires 108” wide backs to be prewashed. They can shrink 4” or even more.
Fabric can shrink a lot!
I prefer to wash fabric prior to cutting. However, when im working with precuts, the shrinkage and fraying are problematic. Eapecially if I've ordered fabric online and it's not available locally, i dont want to not have enough for my project.
So i prewash any fabrics over a yard in length, but when working with small precuts, i make the quilt and then wash it with colorguard. Not ideal but saves the work of trying to have enough fabric and reshaping all those little precuts.🤷♀️
I rarely buy precuts but I do understand the appeal of them.
I don't buy anything smaller than a fat quarter and I prewash
Nope