The Great Prewash Debate

A long standing debate in the quilting world is whether or not to prewash fabrics. The answer to the question depends on the person you ask. There are many people who never prewash fabric, and there are just as many people that always prewash fabric.

My advice is to do whatever you are most comfortable doing. I know this is not the clear-cut answer you want, but hopefully the following information helps you to make an educated decision.

Reasons Not to Prewash

Reasons people do not prewash quilting fabric is to save time, to make preparation easier, and to avoid puckering.

By not prewashing fabrics you not only save the time it takes to wash and dry the fabric, you also skip a lot of ironing! When fabric comes out of the drier, it may take an hour or more to iron it. Also, the fabric is softer and may be more difficult to fold, mark, and cut accurately.

In this technologically advanced day and age, it is not surprising to see products developed that help quilters with long standing issues. For example, many people who prewashed in the past because of the issue of color bleeding, no longer worry. Most high quality fabrics are less likely to have color bleeding because of manufacturing advances. Also, quilters can buy dye magnet products. These products go into the wash with the final quilt and attract any dye in the water. The dye magnet prevents the color from bleeding onto the lighter colored fabrics. I personally always use a dye magnet product (my favorite is Shout’s Color Catcher) when I wash my quilts regardless of prewashed fabrics.

The last reason people do not prewash is because they want a final quilt that lays flat and does not have puckers. Batting is fragile so it must be hand washed and air dried if it is prewashed. Do not prewash to avoid hassle, uneven shrinkage rates, and puckering.

Reasons to Prewash

Reasons people prewash fabric is to avoid a lot of worrying. Making a quilt takes a lot of time (and occasionally sweat and tears). The last thing a quilter wants to go wrong is color bleeding, fading, and uneven shrinkage.

By prewashing fabrics – darks with darks and lights with lights – you do not have to worry about the cute white bunny on your niece’s baby blanket, which took a month and several pin pricks to complete, becoming a pink nightmare. Even though prewashing gets rid of most color bleeding, I still use a dye magnet when washing the final quilt, especially if I used whites and reds in the fabric choices.

Prewashing not only helps avoid color bleeding, it also uncovers any color fading fabrics and resolves uneven shrinkage rates between fabrics.

I admit that I am a prewasher, but I do not take the time to prewash my batting. I like a little pucker in my quilts because it brings to mind comfort, warmth, and my grandmother. If puckering does not bother you, then you are safe prewashing your fabrics and not your batting.

The long lasting debate about prewashing fabric does not appear to be ending anytime soon, but the important thing is for you do what is best for you.

Copyright 2007 Jennifer Beaujon