Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGramma View Post
Hi. I'm afraid I have a different opinion from everyone else.

First, I don't think it's a good idea at all to wash pre-cuts. They are so precisely cut that any shredding of the edges in the washer would be a major headache and could really ruin any quilt you had planned for them.

Having said that, though, I do always pre-wash my yardage. There are two reasons: Once I had a mixture of pre-washed and unwashed high quality Asian fabric that I was going to use in a One Block Wonder (you have to have six exact repeats of your fabric to make a hexagon). I couldn't get them to match -- and discovered a two inch difference in the WOF between the washed and unwashed. So despite having bought expensive fabric at a high end quilt shop, I definitely had shrinkage.

But here's the most important reason I pre-wash yardage -- especially for younger quilters. Virtually all fabric is manufactured overseas, and they do not have the same environmental standards that we do in the United States. They use some pretty harsh chemicals on their fabrics, including formaldehyde. Not only that, but you just don't know what little bugs and critters might have embedded themselves from far away.

So in your case, buying this fabric for youngsters, I highly recommend pre-washing.
I'll just agree with this. I prewash even if I just buy 12 inch WOF. And press.