dljennings

[quote=Stummel]Wow, I just came on here to ask the exact same question! What a wealth of information!
I remember pre-washing years ago fro my first quilt (included burgundy and dark green batiks), but when I recently finished the quilt and tried to remove a small stain it still bled.

How exactly does one use vinegar - you soak it on lukewarm water with vinegar (how much vinegar to how much water?), and then wash it with detergent or just water?

I have a bunch of jelly rolls and pre-cut fabrics in blues and yellows for my next quilt, and can't imagine how I would pre-wash all the pieces :(



anything a yard or less you can do in the kitchen sink... i used about 1 cup of vinegar to a sink full of lukewarm water. and if you've got several pieces to do, i just do them in turns. i guess if you had a laundry sink you could do a 2-3 yard piece.

i do the large cuts in the bathtub. how much vinegar depends on how much water. i guess, and if i have a lot of large pieces, i have been know to dump the whole gallon in the tub and fill it up... course the house stinks when i do that, but everyone gets over that eventually..

pieces

I always pre-wash all my fabrics as soon as I get home. I sew up the ends so there is very little raveling. Press it and store in appropriate bin. Washing removes any excess dyes.

rndelling

I would never quilt if I had to go through all that some of you do. Stitching ends, soaking, washing, ironing, refolding.
Thank goodness there are no quilt police and we can all just do what we want.
I prewash nothing.

Oklahoma Suzie

I don't wash.

Happy Travelin

I agree, it's a personal preference. I prewash everything except precut purchases. I don't pink, sew, etc the edges - just toss the fabric in the machine with a color catcher and have the scissors ready when I remove the fabric so I can snip off the ravels. I never add starch, sizing, etc to my fabric, just iron it, cut it & sew it. Then I always wash my quilt as soon as it is finished. This lets the batting shrink a bit and makes it all nice and soft and clean.

sewingladydi

I don't always know what I'll do with a fabric so I always machine wash (with color catcher) and machine dry. Then I iron (with starch)when I'm ready to cut. So if it ends up in a kids quilt or something like that, I don't have to worry that it will shrink unevenly or run

pieces

When I wash my fabrics, I add vinegar to my rinse water.
I think this helps set the colors. Also works like a fabric softener.

JanieW

I took a quilt class once where the instructor was adamant that you had to wash. So I washed.

Then I took a class from a very good instructor who had her own quilt shop. If you bought the fabrics from her for her class, she waived the fee for taking the class. You just showed up early for the class and bought the fabrics. I asked her how this would work for pre washing and she thought I was crazy. So I tried it and I have never pre washed since.

Anned

Flannel is a must wash fabric. Many others I press/iron with my generator steam iron and then just let it sit. Buy good quality fabric and I find that it won't shrink as much
Then again, I am out to buy red flannel at Joann's tomorrow for a baby quilt. Oh Lordy, How much I am guessing that will bleed and shrink...

Anne

gwanma

you're cute!