You don't need to wash your fabrics before you make a quilt!
To pre-wash or not to pre-wash patchwork fabrics?
You don't need to wash your fabrics before you make a quilt!
There's two schools of thought on this curly topic
Fabrics have sizing which protects them while they are handled, and if you wash that away before you use the fabric, you may have unexpected results.
I never wash my patchwork quilting fabrics first, but if worried, I do a bleed test.
I could have the quilt made while I waste time washing and pressing the fabric first!
I say:
You DON'T NEED to wash your fabrics before you make a quilt!
Opinion of an expert
World-renowned quilter says NO to pre-washing
On a visit to Queensland, Australia, several years ago, a world-renowned machine quilter and author was asked by a participant at a lecture she was giving, if we should wash our quilting fabrics before we use them.
Her reply was that we should not, particularly in a humid climate like Brisbane, where the oils from our hands would be easily transferred and absorbed into the fabrics as we handled them over the time it takes to sew a quilt.
She did however say that we should test any 'suspect' fabrics before we put them into a quilt.
This well-known quilter had been a chemist, so her opinion was very valid from a scientific point of view.
Great advice, don't you think?