Pursonality Plus

Prewashing Quilts And Fabric Care

Fabric Care

Prewashing Or Not

There are many quilters who have different opinions as to whether it is better to pre-wash your fabric or to wait until the fabric gets dirty and then you have to. Fabrics bought in today’s market off the bolt are now treated with protective coatings, sizing and other chemicals that are meant to keep the material looking new while sitting under fluorescent lights for a period of time.

Not washing it also makes it stiffer and crisper so that the quilter can handle it easier while marking or cutting the material with rotary cutters.
A few points should be considered either way!

The Pros of PreWashing Fabric

Allergies and Chemicals

For those of you who have allergies – a good washing will dissolve the manufacturer chemicals mentioned above, so that they don’t flake on your skin and clothing. They also won’t float in the air during handling of the material.You can always put a little starch on the fabric after washing to stiffen it up At least this way, you have more control over how much quantity is applied to it.

Bleeding

Another good reason to prewash in cold water is to see if your fabric is colorfast. Prewashing will help to bleed out all the loose dyes that might later run otherwise.If you haven’t read our page on colorfastness- you should do this important test on your material. Take a few moments to read this page (link).

Shrinkage
A positive reason to prewash your materials is because some unwashed cotton fabrics will shrink differently. The threads and fibers that make-up the material are made to be straight and rigid. The manufacturer coats the material to help maintain this rigidity. But when it gets washed it becomes very “relaxed” thus causing shrinkage as we know.


		TIP: If you desire an Antique appearance -don’t wash your materials first! Uneven shrinkage will cause the material to pucker around the stitching which gives it the Antique appearance you see.