Prewash Fabrics for Quilting Pro's, Con's and How-To's
We've previously discussed reasons to prewash fabrics due to the quilting you used to finish your quilt top. We focus here on other reasons to prewash or not and how to do it.
Reasons to Prewash Fabrics for Quilting
Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's clean. Quilt fabric is usually printed in a foreign factory, shipped in a container on a boat, trucked to your local quilt store, and in many stores, placed on the floor because the shelves are full.
Many appliquérs prefer a softer fabric to work with. Removing the chemicals through washing softens the hand of the fabric. If it is too soft, you can starch the quilt fabric to your preference.
If you want a smooth flat finished quilt, prewash fabrics to remove some of the shrinkage so that when your finished quilt is laundered, you will not get that puckered antique look.
Different fabrics shrink at different rates (cottons vs. homespuns vs. sateens, etc.) Prewashing "equalizes" them.
Many prewash fabrics to prevent bleeding. While it does remove excess dye, prewashing fabrics does not, in and of itself, prevent bleeding. See Bleeding Fabric for more information.
Reasons Not to Prewash Quilt Fabric
It takes time to prewash and iron fabric before starting the quilt.
Unwashed fabric with its finishing chemical still intact has a crisper hand. It sews and presses better.
To produce the soft look and feel of an antique quilt. Unwashed quilt fabric used in a quilt with untreated cotton batting which is washed at its completion will pucker due to the fabric and batting shrinkage.
The finished quilt will never be washed so why bother?
Quilt Fabric Care
The choice is yours. There are no QUILT POLICE to darken your door to enforce any prewashing quilt fabric rules.
I suggest the following guidelines.
Be consistent. Either prewash everything or prewash nothing. That way you'll always know the state of the fabric no matter when you added it to your stash.
Use the bleed test to check whether or not any of the fabrics chosen for a quilt will bleed. If a fabric will bleed, then prewash it and check it again for bleeding. If you determine that it will be a problem fabric, eliminate it from your stash (you don't want to accidentally put it into another quilt).
If it's for a child, prewash.
How to Prewash Fabrics
In preparing to write this page, I visited my local quilt store and checked fabric labels. The majority of quilt fabrics at the quilt store recommended cool water washing, low dryer temperature and gentle or delicate cycles.
Some manufacturers went as far as to recommend no heat, no ironing, no drying.
This was surprising! I had been washing all quilting cottons in warm water for years and had never noticed the washing instructions before.
The Steps
Sort your fabrics to be washed into lights and darks.
Set your washing machine temperature to cold.
Fill with water to the desired level and add your soap. Prewash quilt fabric with a neutral soap like Orvus. (If you do not have Orvus, it is OK to use your regular laundry soap, but do try to avoid the optical brighteners.)
Agitate to mix the soap evenly through the machine. Turn off the machine.
Open your quilt fabrics (this helps to prevent setting the fold) and distribute them evenly throughout the washing machine. Turn on the machine and complete the washing cycle.
To dry your quilt fabric tumble dry on low removing the fabric from the dryer while it is still slightly damp. You can skip the dryer altogether by either line drying or laying your quilt fabric out flat to dry.
If you will be using your fabric immediately, then iron. If these fabrics are going straight to your stash, just fold neatly for now. Remember to press before you use them. Pressing only once saves time. The trick is to lay the slightly damp fabrics, fresh from the dryer, flat immediately to avoid setting in wrinkles.
Remember, prewashing quilt fabric DOES NOT ensure it won't bleed. For that you will need to do a bleed test (See Bleeding Fabric for instructions.) While the majority of commercially printed fabrics today do not bleed, it's the one that does that makes you cry.
Prewashing fabric for quilting is a personal decision that you, alone, make. Make it an informed one!
