Washing Fabric?

[AndreaRuth]

Hi All!
I know this is probably and old question - but I'm trying to get this typed quickly before Mr 2yo wakes from his nap.

My mother and all my sewing teachers at school (years ago!) all drilled into me that I must wash the fabric before I sew with it to get rid of excess dye, so that it doesn't run later.

When I watch tutorials here and on the tv they cut the fabric straight off the bolt and start sewing.

My question is: Should we still wash our fabric? What about jelly rolls and charm squares? How many people here pre wash?

Would appreciate any answers!
Thanks!
AndreaRuth

[shell.scraps]

Re: Washing Fabric?

I don't wash pre-cuts...and hardly every wash yardage unless it is a color that is probably overdyed and I don't want it to run like red or black....generally I don't wash anything that is a print pattern...I only wash solids...

I'm a bit of an "anti-wa****e"

[toggpine]

Re: Washing Fabric?

I do not wash the pre-cuts.
I do wash my yardage. I have had some bad experiences with fabric shrinking over the years. I also like to have all of the factory starch/sizing out of the fabric. I find that it also helps with squaring up the fabric before I start cutting it into strips.

[mrswindy4]

Re: Washing Fabric?

Color Catchers from the makers of Shout!! They can be found in the laundry aisle at Walmart.
They look like the dryer sheets, but they go into the washing machine (they can also be dried) and they pick up all the excess dyes from fabrics to keep it from bleeding onto other materials.

I've used them on regular laundry and the new red shirts and blue jeans dont bleed onto other clothes. I've also used them on first time washed quilts and had great success, even with the red, white and blue quilt that wasnt pre-washed first!!

[Laine]

Re: Washing Fabric?

I also no longer prewash my fabric. I highly recommend using the Color Catchers by Shout. They work wonderfully. My grandson's b-day quilt was red, black & blue with a white background and it washed up beautifully using the Color Catchers.

[sewhot]

Re: Washing Fabric?

Anymore, we don't have to pre-wash fabrics. (if you buy good quality fabric) Definitely not the pre-cuts! Yay for technology....or at least better quality quilting fabrics!!

We have it so much easier than our Grandmothers did!!

[AndreaRuth]

Re: Washing Fabric?

Thank you all for your ever helpful suggestions! I don't think we have colour catchers here (in Australia) but will check our local supermarkets for something similar. They sound like a great idea though!

I think I will relax a bit more on the pre-washing from now on