Washing & Ironing - opinions?

You'll get a wide variety of answers and reasons to that inquiry!

Me? I'm a washer - I've had too many bad experiences with fabric dye running, so I don't like to take chances. If the fabric seems too limp after it's been washed and ironed, I sometimes use spray starch to give it more body before I cut and sew. I don't worry about the starch staying in the fabric, as I almost always wash my quilts when they're bound and ready to be loved. I also wash and dry my batting before using it so that any shrinkage takes place before it's a part of the quilt. Sometimes that's not good - depends on the look you like for your finished quilt.

For pressing, I don't use steam. Sometimes, though, I do take a small artist's paintbrush, dip it in water, and run it along the seam line (I press my seams open as a general rule). That helps create a pretty flat seam without the steam distorting the whole piece.

Don't iron -press! Up and down, and put a little muscle into it unless you are lucky enough to have a really heavy iron. I usually press w/o steam, then give it a single shot of steam without moving the iron to set a good crease.

IMO seams can be pressed open or to the side, depending on how the block needs to go together. If you want to press open, you can run the very edge of the iron just over the stitching line in between the layers to separate them cleanly. Then press flat.

I'm a washer. Sometimes wash>Hi all,

I wish I hadn't washed some fabric that had square panels on it because I wanted to cut perfect squares and after washing the square panels were a bit off and since they had a little printed border on them it was difficult trying to cut out squares w/ o cutting into that border. Mary

A lot of my stash comes from yard sales, estate sales, etc. I buy some at LQS too. If I want them to all be on the same playing field, I wash everything as it comes into my house. I have no way of knowng if the yard sale items were washed or not, so it all gets washed. I've made over 65 quilts in the past 5 years, all prewashed material, and I've never had any problems. I pre-washed my "Watercolor" quilt materials, too. I use a color catcher. If the material feels too soft or wimpy for you after washing, you could use a little spray starch, I never have.

Sometimes material in a quilt gets mixed, as in, if I'm doing a BOM with the store supplying pre-cut (unwashed) material, and I mix it in with some of my (prewashed) stash. I've never noticed any problem. My only caveat would be mixing unwashed flannel with washed flannel. Flannel shrinks so much that it should be either all unwashed or all washed in a quilt.

I always iron my washed material, though I don't iron folds.

I always use steam, never had a problem.

Denise

I am a no wash person. I buy all quilt quality fabric from my LQS and have never had an issue with colors running. If I wash I have to starch everything and that is a pain in the neck and gets my iron and board all yucky.

I do wash all my quilts with color catchers when they are finished. I love the little poofyness that comes from washing, but nothing has ever stretched out of shape or done anything horrible.

If you purchase fabric from Joanns or Walmart I would say wash it. I purchased some muslin from Joanns once that shrunk a 12 1/2" square to 10" more or less and very wobbly. I washed the whole piece and am reluctant to use it for even backing, so there it sits. Wish I made small wall quilts, I think that would work just fine.

I only wash fabric for swaps if they require you to send washed fabric.

Thank you everyone - this is really helpful!

Another question for the "washers" in the group... I am looking at watercolor quilts and was thinking that jellyrolls or charm packs might be a good way to collect multiple florals for a project. Do you wash these just as easily as a large chunk of fabric? I'm wondering if the edges fray and cause problems on such small pieces.

Steph

You've had much better luck than I have! I buy virtually all my fabric at the LQS, but that doesn't guarantee no bleeding. I spent $9 a yard on a piece that was still bleeding after I'd washed it 10 times! Just recently, I purchased a batik, tossed it in the washer with a tone-on-tone that was going to be used in the same quilt (my mistake - I shouldn't have mixed them in the same wash and should have tossed in a color catcher), and the batik came out much grayer than when I tossed it in (it was purple, beige and gold to start, but most of the beige areas had turned a muddy gray). Thankfully I was able to remedy it with another run through the wash.

I try to take care of all those problems before I make the quilt - I can't assume that the recipient will always wash it in cold water or use a color catcher or use Synthrapol or anything like that, and I'd hate for them to be the recipient of a bleeding fabric.

Well, you could use about a gallon of fray check per washer load. I tend to sewing several pieces in the same color family together with a coarse overcast stitch, and then wash them in bags. If you do it as you collect them up it is not too dire a chore. FQs I accordian pleat and then whip the top and bottom. I will actually use fray check if it is something I figure I am going to need every last thread of and won't be able to get more.

I try to abuse fabric in the laundry as much as possible before quilting with it. Especially if it is going to be a gift quilt. If a given fabric is going to behave badly I want that to show up before I use it. Also since I tend to use deep colors I see a lot of bleeding fabric. I truly think that deeps and brights are often quite intentionally poorly exhausted after dyeing.

NightMist

Howdy!

Where it comes from is no guarantee of whether or not the fabric will bleed, transfer, fade, leech into another fabric, migrate, or come out perfectly serene. The dye doesn't recognize store names.

For small pieces (charms, jelly rolls, strips, scraps), wash by hand, giving it a really good scrunch & squeeze; add some white or natural muslin which seems to enjoy catching running colors; test color-fastness by putting in a white t-shirt or undies Even after using Color/Dye Catchers, Synthrapol, Retayne, Fixative, colors can still run if they want to; Carbona Color Run Remover (got to get that name right or someone will bite me) will remove the excess dye, ALL the excess dye, great for making some new fabrics look older & for taking red out of white borders. ;-D

I've been to a fabric warehouse; I wash everything before I use it.

"> You've had much better luck than I have! I buy virtually all my fabric at

I've never bought a jelly roll, but if I did, I don't think I would wash them first. Maybe just a quick soak in the sink, but no dryer. I can't imagine the tangled mess that would come of washing jelly rolls in the washer and dryer.

But, yes, it does seem like a good way to start collecting multiple florals.

Denise

A lot of people worry about red bleeding, but truly I have had much more trouble with greens than reds. I will always recall the green corduroy I had for a garment project that just bled forever. Top quality fabric, and nothing I tried made it stop bleeding. Red and green as primaries in a project would be a whole lot of washing at my house!

I press and starch right before I cut because I don't want starched fabrics sitting around to call hungry insects. If I press straight out of the wash I will still have to press it when I go to use it. Why do more ironing than I have to?

NightMist

In the past I've bought squares of fabric and thought I'd wash them before using them and this is how I did it so they didn't fray or become entangled: I first took them as you would a stack of cocktail napkins and did what barkeeps do and that is to put the heel of your hand in the middle of the stack of fabrics and give them a twirl..so that they are all separated from each other. Then I soaked them in warm water....gently squeezed them out by hand and using a towel. Since they were all separated I could easily pull each square off from the next one and lay it flat on the top of my dryer to dry out. I did notice that even with small squares..such as 5 "...that even that size will shrink a bit. Mary

I always wash fabrics, and take it to the laundromat to do it in one of the large machines, which have a second rinse cycle. When it is out of the dryer, I spread it out on those wonderful long tables and smooth it fold it carefully, and then take it home and put it away. No, I don't iron it! I figure that the careful smoothing folding just when it comes out of the dryer is fine, and have never had any problems at all.

Washing vs not prewashing: lots of opinions and reasons in both directions. If I am making clothes, I always prewash. Haven't done as much for quilt making. And yes I have mixed washed and unwashed fabrics in the same quilt. When I wash a quilt I use a color catcher. And have only had one problem with a fabric bleeding into other fabrics. (and it was a quilt shop fabric, not a less expensive one like the good quality ones at Jo-Ann's/Walmart, etc. ) If I am pressing it to freezer paper, need to prewash to ensure a good bond, and for swaps I do prewash. Also if the fabric seems to be way off grain I will wash it to see what happens. In general, some of the finishes on the fabric help to keep bugs away. Manufacturers have cut way down on the formalin derivative used in the non wrinkle finish and I no longer have major problems with it. So prewashing is not a "necessary in order to be able to breathe while using the fabric" option now. Gift quilts are washed before gifting. Class samples do look a bit better "fresh" and not washed.

Pressing vs ironing: there is definitely a difference. Ironing is moving the iron over the fabric, with pressure, to remove wrinkles. Because you are moving you can stretch the fabric if you are not careful. Generally yardage/larger pieces of fabric are ironed before cutting. Steam or spraying/sprinkling with water can help remove wrinkles. Pressing is just that, applying pressure (with heat) to the fabric. Usually done to set seams and such. Sometimes people mistake a movement which uses the tip/edge of the iron to move the fabric away from the seam, *without* pressure on the iron, for ironing. But since you are not really applying pressure as you move you should be okay. Move the fabric into position then apply pressure to set it in place. Steam is, again, optional. Some people like steam, some don't. What stretches fabric is moving the iron with pressure while it is on the fabric. Especially if moving on any bias angle. Ironing on the straight lengthwise grain will not usually stretch at all.

The *right* way is the one that works for you. And may vary from project to project, fabric to fabric. Have fun, and strive for accuracy are the most important things.

Pati, in Phx

Steph wrote:

I test fabrics for colorfastness. If a tiny piece doesn't bleed in hot water, I don't wash it.

I do wash flannel and dry it on hot so all the shrinkage is done. I love working with it when it is so firm and cozy.

The origin of the fabric also dictates. I love batiks and always note if they are from Bali or other places.

I've had Indian dyes run like crazy. I always wash them.

I've never had problems with the African batiks. I had one piece that still had lots of wax in it. Working with it was like wool yard that still has the lanolin in it. My hands were soft as silk.

So, I do some of both as far as washing goes.

Ironing, bring on the steam! I HATE ironing but know that a blast of steam will "fix" any wrinkles away. For quilt blocks, I press. No "ironing" on them.

Happy quilting,

Lenore