For long pieces, such as for quilt backs and such, try opening the fabric and
fan folding it in 18-20 inch "pleats". Then safety pin the selvedges together
before putting it in the washer. This really helps keep the length from
twisting and such.

Pati, in Phx.

Shirley Ellen wrote:

I only dry very large pieces of fabric in the dryer. Anything a yard or less
I hang to almost dry and then iron dry the rest of the way. For FQ's I don't
even bother to hang.. they dry fairly quickly using a dry iron on the cotton
setting.

I did find on a piece of fabric that was 4 yards that if I did a large clip
on the corners it helped. That wouldn't be a good idea on a FQ though cause
you'd lose a significant amount of the piece.

Shirley

--
My Quilt Site
http://ca.geocities.com/meadow1951/index.html

Inspiring Thoughts
http://members.tripod.com/inspiring-thoughts/index.html
wrote in message
...
Before someone else says it, yes, I did have too much time on my hands
today!

I am a dedicated pre-washer and have been interested in the threads
about clipping corners to keep fabric from raveling (unraveling?) in the
wash. Today I acquired 22 FQs and decided to make an experiment out of
the washing process.

Thesis: clipping the corners of fabric pieces will prevent horrible
thread nests after washing.

Methodology: I clipped the corners on half of the FQs and left the
others whole. Where there were duplicates of fabrics (6 instances, 12
pieces in all) one of the pair was clipped and one left whole. Three of
the unclipped FQs had arrived with edges cut with pinking shears. All
FQs were washed at the same time (cold wash/cold rinse, with a Color
Catcher) so that water level and detergent amount would be the same. All
were dried, in the same load, for 20 minutes until mostly dry but not
"hot".

Results: Of 22 FQs, 8 raveled badly (defined as thread nest attaching
several pieces of fabric together and in two cases winding the fabric
into a knot); 4 raveled to some extent; 10 did not ravel at all.

Of the badly raveled FQs, 4 had been clipped. Two of those had "twins"
that had been left unclipped. In neither case was the unclipped piece
more raveled than the clipped one. Of the three "pinked" FQs, one was
among the 4 that had raveled to some extent.

Conclusion: Clipping, in my laundry room anyway, does not seem to
significantly reduce the amount of edge raveling of FQs in the washer
and/or dryer. "Pinking" the edges may cause some slight reduction in
raveling.

Secondary observation: Weight of fabric did not seem to have
significance. The 6 pieces that were noticeably heavier were evenly
split between ravel and non-ravel. Of the 5 "Debbie Mumm" fabrics, 2
raveled badly and the other 3 not at all.

Suggestion for further study: Thread count may have some relevance, with
higher count fabrics raveling less. Next time I get a large enough batch
of FQs, I will attempt another experiment.


--
Anne in CA
"It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." -- Sheryl
Crow
http://home.covad.net/~arudolph/annes.htm


remove NOSPAM to reply