(Tipmas) To Prewash or Not?

tips
Written By Linda Pearl
Here’s what was left in the first rinse of an inky blue-black batik

Here’s what was left in the first rinse of an inky blue-black batik

When I first began quilting, I was taught that you should always pre-wash your fabrics before you begin. I have learned a number of lessons along the path in my quilting journey, but everytime I revisit this issue, I come back to the same point. I’m not as disciplined as some who wash each piece as it comes into the stash, but I am disciplined enough that the first step in any of my projects is to run a load through the wash. No biggie until the yardage all needs to be ironed, but it’s all part of the process.

In 2020, my feelings about pre-washing became a different focus, as I found myself making masks by the dozens as so many of us do. The first step in the mask project was to find a home for that fabric, and to prewash that fabric. Quilting cotton does come to us from a number of sources, and there may be chemicals in the fabric from the manufacturing process, the shipping process or, if it’s pre-owened stash, potentially cigarette smoke….and it was never intended to be in such close and prolonged contact with our noses, mouths and lungs. I just feel strongly that taking that extra step makes sense. I will be thrilled when we no longer have to worry about that.

From a #makerforquilter recent project. ..

From a #makerforquilter recent project. ..

I recently had a customer who asked me to cut letters from fabric she provided to personalize a quilt for her new granddaughter. I had the letter fabric to work with - and it was a very very deep batik. It was only a 12 x 12” square, so rather than put it in the laundry, I ran it under warm water in the bathroom sink to mitigate any extra bleeding before I began the cut with my Cricut Maker. It would be almost impossible for me to wash the letters once they were cut. Dark batiks are notorious for having excess dye. These lived up to the legend.

Once I was done with the rinsing, and rinsing, and more rinsing, I merely took a hot, dry iron to the fabric to iron it dry, and then added fusible to the back of the fabric and began the cutting process. If I had tossed this into the wash, I wouldn’t have had such a graphic representation of the amount of excess dye in this fabric. For those of you wondering, my sink is white.

#teamprewash FTW.

Linda Pearl
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