Be*mused & Do You Pre-wash Your Fabrics
This week’s Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts blog hop stop is Jan at Be*mused. Jan’s colour sense, design sense, and taste in antique quilts, make her posts “must reads” on my list. She sent me a preview of how she is interpreting “Across the Pond”, and well, when you check out her post, be prepared for an “omg” moment! I can hardly wait to see her whole creation!
Do you pre-wash your fabrics? I don’t. I did for a bit, but with all the fabric flowing into my studio, frankly the thought is daunting. It really is an all or nothing proposition … either you sew with all unwashed or all pre washed. You can probably guess why I have raised this. Cardinal rule in my studio and in classes … no open beverage containers near fabrics or quilts. Yes, there was a spill. Yes fabric was affected. Yes, it was a quilt. Yes it needed to be washed. Yes … the red fabric in the quilt ran … into the white shirting beside it … of course!
Research pointed to two products that could possibly help. Color Catchers and Synthrapol. I had success with the first, but will share what I found out about both. Color Catchers, found in the US in the laundry aisle of your local grocery store, absorb and trap excess dye and prevent the dye from being re-deposited on the fabric. (Thank you to purveyors CS and MV for helping out this Canadian!). I used six sheets per wash and it took three washes, but that did the trick! You can see in the photo above that each time the catchers caught less and less. Synthrapol works on the same principal, washing out excess dye particles and keeping them in suspension, preventing them from staining other fabrics.
Since I don’t want another heart in the mouth experience, I think pre-washing is in my future. A tip from a friend is to clip the corners of your pieces before you wash them to prevent unraveling and to indicate to yourself afterwards that the piece has been washed. Sounds like I could tackle this on a per project basis. Brilliant!
So, do you pre-wash your fabrics or not? I’d love to hear your comments.
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I pre wash all reds and dark colors and fabrics that are used for a certain group that I sew with – their requirement prewash due to some folks algeries. Yes use the color catchers in wash – about three – depends on how much color I think will run. Some brands more than others.
I always prewash….the fabric doesn’t get into my sewing room before it’s been through the laundry. That way I know I can grab anything in there, and it’s ready to go. I mainly prewash for the bleed reason, but in the past couple of years, I’ve inherited a lot of fabric and scraps from friends. And honestly….. there fabric stinks! Some is musty smelling, others have cat hairs all over (with a slight smell!), and others you can tell that her hubby smokes! Yuk! I don’t want to sew with that mess! So it all gets washed. Plus, I’m glad not to be handling all the chemicals the manufacturers use on the fabric…..that’s just not appealing, either!
Always prewash…even scaps given to me by others…new fabric,old fabric,free fabric..always prewash!
I prewash yardage and any scraps that I am given/buy. I do not prewash fat quarters though do not use much red.
I prewash everything. Always. The chemical finishes on fabrics really do a number on my hands. That’s saying a lot because I don’t have sensitive skin.
The only fabric that I pre-wash is batiks. But I do wash all of my quilts after they are finished with color catchers.
Prewash everything that is new fabric. Never enters my studio until it is washed.
Vintage I wash but differently. Antique pieces of fabric it depends. What the quilt is used for and the type/color of fabric.
yes, I pre-wash not only to stave fabric dye bleeding, but to wash out finishing chemicals from the fabric and to properly “shrink” the cotton. Washed fabric is easier to piece into blocks…unwashed fabric is sort of slippery.
and that being said about the advantages of pre-washing, there is always a risk of fabric bleeding, even after a pre-wash. Harriet Hargrave has spoken volumes on this subject.
Yes, I pre-wash and always have. The only exceptions are fabrics bought is small pieces, basically charm packs. Then washing is beyond me.
I pre wash everything with the exception of solids. I have no idea why I have not washed them, I just used a bunch in a baby quilt and I may pay the price when I wash it before gifting it.
Used to pure wash. Don’t anymore. And now that I have to go to the laundromat across the street…
I pre-wash everything. I have just heard too many stories like the one you have just told, to take a risk by not pre-washing. Plus, red is one of my favorite colors and finds its way into almost all of my quilts and it is always the color that bleeds the most.
I hear multiple people say they never pre-wash because they only buy the good quality fabric and the good quality doesn’t bleed. But I have had multiple high-end name brands (Moda, Freespirit, Westminister, Marcus, etc.) bleed while pre-washing.
I really like the idea of clipping the corners and will try it. I always wash my fabrics in bins by the sink with very mild dish washing soap. For fabrics that end up bleeders, they get multiple washes with the hottest water possible and if they continue to bleed, I use a little vinegar to get the color to stay. If a fabric continues to bleed then I use the product called Retayne.
I also use color catchers when washing just in case!!!
I pre wash. I did find out you can sometimes (when ever I tried it, it worked) get dye out using whisk laundry detergent. I offended one quilter by suggesting this because detergent is too harsh, she said. But I would rather use detergent and have a unstained quilt.
I always pre-wash everything. The chemicals used in fabric are not something I want to be working with. The plus side is I find out immediately if something is going to bleed. Prewashing charms and other small pieces is easy — I use an old salad spinner to wash them, hang them on clothes horse and they’re dry in no time.