washing and drying new fabric (yes, I am a beginner)

[Gromit]

Okay, so I washed several similarly printed new fabrics together and nothing
bled. Hooray. Then in the dryer, everybody tangled into a mess that took
me 30 minutes to tear apart and I was left with over a handful of thread
knots. I don't want to think about how much fabric I lost in the tangle; my
fat quarters are no longer the exact dimensions. But, here's the funny
part: two of the fabrics DID NOT fray and get into the tangle. They didn't
fray at the edges at all; it seemed a miracle next to the large knot of the
other fabrics that frayed at the edges and got into the worst tangled mess
you've ever seen...no, you've probly seem plenty.
Have I made a newbie discovery on the qualities of fabric out there and
maybe there are manufactures I should avoid because their fabric frays? Why
would one or two fabrics not fray at all, (conflict pacifists) while others
seem to want to make me lose an inch off all sides when they fight with the
others (conflict enthusiasts) in the dryer? If I purchased poor quality
fabric, I sure didn't know it.
Your ponderances?

[frood]

I can't tell ahead of times which will fray and tangle when I wash my
fabric. I will say that I spend less time de-tangling than I did cutting
off the corners, when I tried that method to avoid tangles. (That way
didn't work for me, either, maybe I wasn't willing to chop off a big
enough piece.)

I do shake each piece of fabric as it comes out of the washer, pulling
or cutting off loose threads. Some tangles happen in my washer, some in
the dryer. If I'm not washing enough fabric to make a full dryer load
(this is frequent), I toss in a towel to help fluff and dry.

Wendy, looking forward to washing fabric from post-moving S.E.X.!

[Kathy]

Gromit <Gro...@comcast.net> wrote:

> Your ponderances?

While I don't spend much time pondering the "whys" of fabric tangles,
I've found that if I put those smaller pieces in a fabric lingerie bag,
I don't have that tangled mess at the end. :)

--
Kathy Applebaum (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting
mailto:Kayney...@compuserve.com

[Monique Reed]

When washing and drying small pieces, it helps to a) corral them in a
pillowcase or lingerie bag, b)use the gentle cycle on the washer, c)
hang the bits til nearly dry and then iron them fully dry--no tangles.

Monique, learned the hard way.

[Linda Campbell]

And the big ones in a pillowcase. Safety pin the pillowcase closed.

HTH
Linda and the Gang in SF

[CJHutch]

I bit the bullet after the Sewing Expo I went to last Saturday, and
zigzagged the edges of all the fabrics...that's 50 - yes, count 'em - 50 FQs
and 4 one yard pieces of fabric (I had one left over from a previous
shopping expedition). I figured it cost me about 1/8 inch on 3 sides max,
and I didn't have a single frayed edge to deal with. I just threw them all
in the washer.

Of course, then I did the home-made starch routine. Haven't figured out a
really good method of doing that in the washer yet. I tried washing
everything, then setting the machine to the last rinse cycle and dumping a
batch of starch in, but the rinse cycle just rinsed the starch out. I ended
up spraying each piece of fabric down and then throwing them all in the
drier, then ironing them. My DH suggested washing everything, then dumping a
hugh batch of starch in and setting the machine to the last spin cycle. But
I'm concerned about not getting starch to all parts of the fabric. I'm still
working on the easiest, quickest method.

Crickett (Seattle)

"Gromit" <Gro...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:R%5h8.42452$pN4.3...@bin8.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com...

[Donna in Idaho]

I've had my new front loader washer for a week now, and I love it. I
washed a whole load of new fabric in it the other day - hardly any
raveling or fraying at all. Most fabric had no raveling at all, the two
or three that did just had a thread or two coming off. The other plus
is that the fabric is nearly as wrinkled as it was coming out of my old
top load washer.

:-) I'd be glad to wash fabric for anyone else for a fat-quarter, or
two or three! :-)

--
Donna in Idaho!
SW Idaho Project Linus Coordinator
Website: http://members.tripod.com/donnakwilts

"Linda Campbell" <oow...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:3C850717...@ix.netcom.com...

[~Spidey]

When you washed them, did you use the delicate cycle? If not, they
seem to fray more whilst in the dryer.

When they get tagled up, simply cut the threads (don't pull) and it
should be better). The first time I washed fabric I was also stunned,
what a mess it was.

Linda

[hicall]

At last! A use for my lingerie bag!!
Karen

"Kathy" <Kayney...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:1f8kcsn.13y3o1d1bt8qoaN%Kayney...@compuserve.com...

[Carol Schwaderer Dickinson]

~Spidey wrote:
>
> When you washed them, did you use the delicate cycle? If not, they
> seem to fray more whilst in the dryer.

Serging the ends before washing cures that.

Carol

[~Spidey]

You're right it would, but I buy a lot of fabric, it's easier just to
snip off what is tangled IF it tangles.

[Kathy]

Gromit <Gro...@comcast.net> wrote:

> Your ponderances?

Okay, now I have another ponderance on the subject....

I was hand dying color runs for DH to see what he wanted more of the
other night. This involves lots of fat eighths, and lots of washing and
drying. Just on a whim, I cut those pieces from the yardage with the
wavy blade on my rotary cutter. (I'd forgotten I even had a cutter with
that blade until I cleaned up the sewing room the other day!)

Worked like a charm -- almost no fraying or tangles. And the cutting
took next to no time.

[Donna in Idaho]

Isn't it amazing what we find when we clean up a sewing room! :-)

--
Donna in Idaho!
SW Idaho Project Linus Coordinator
Website: http://members.tripod.com/donnakwilts

"Kathy" <Kayney...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:1f8tp3u.p8ksaq1okz5ogN%Kayney...@compuserve.com...

[Kathy]

Donna in Idaho <da...@citlink.net> wrote:

> Isn't it amazing what we find when we clean up a sewing room! :-)

Just don't tell DH -- he'll expect me to do it more often! ROFLOL