To wash or not to wash, that is the question
Fiber Arts
by Sylvia S. Buob
To wash or not to wash, I get asked this question weekly. This seems to be quite a controversy right now in the quilting/sewing world and everyone has an opinion. This question is as old as time and has pretty much been a personal choice; but since I get asked this question so much, I will give my viewpoint now.
I have been sewing for over 40 years and started out sewing clothing. My mother always had us wash everything because it is never good when clothing shrinks after you have it made. So I have always been on the side of washing, just for that reason.
Now many quilters believe you do not need to “pre-shrink” because it is a quilt and you aren’t wearing it. This is so, but fabrics shrink at different rates, so a finished quilt might get funky after being washed for the first time. Many believe if all the fabric in the quilt is from the same “line” than it is okay not to prewash and obviously “pre-cuts” — fat quarters, jelly rolls, charm squares, etc. — usually do not get pre-washed because you can’t trim them later; although some people hand wash them.
Another reason I like to pre-wash is because fabric is treated with many chemicals and sizing, even formaldehyde. I have a big aversion to sewing fabric that has not been pre-washed because it bothers my skin and eyes.
We then run into the issues of bleeding (especially red, blue, black). I know too many people who have not pre-washed, only to wash the quilt for the first time and end up with red on their whites. Batiks also have a tendency to run because of the way they are processed with dyes.
I prefer to know any idiosyncrasies of the fabric before I put it into a quilt. Fabric is expensive and my time is worth something, so I do not want to put the time and money into a quilt only to have something happen to it the first time I wash it. I also have a friend who washed the quilt and all of a certain fabric shredded in the wash; not something you want to happen, especially if you have given it to someone.
So, this may not have helped at all, the question still remains; are you going to pre-wash?
Sylvia S. Buob of Presque Isle is owner of Garden Gate Fabrics.
