If there's one rule of quilting which I do not break it's, "Always pre-wash your fabrics". I know this is a frustrating step, especially when you've just gotten back from the fabric store with all your goodies and you're psyched up to get a project done. Whenever I buy fabric it goes straight to the laundry room first. This way I know all my stash fabrics are already washed.
I wash in hot water, like colors and use Retayne Color Fixative. I dry on hot too. I want to make sure that my fabrics aren't going to bleed or shrink. After this initial washing I never wash things in hot again, only cold.
I've seen the recommendation in a few places now to either serge the raw edges or use pinking shears to reduce fraying during the pre-wash. I don't have a serger, but I was curious whether pinking shears would help prevent those big tangles of fabric. So here are the before and after photos of my experiment. I got myself a pinking blade for my rotary cutter and gave it a try on a few new fat quarters.(Thanks for the origami cranes Kathleen!) It only takes a minute with the rotary cutter and I was pleased with the results out of the washer. Is there still fraying? Yes, you may still have to trim here and there, but I didn't have any big wads of fabric to untangle. I haven't washed the batiks in the picture yet, but I think those will do even better than the others since they have a tighter weave. Give it a try!
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