Why I Prewash

Do you prewash your fabric before quilting? I do…and here’s why.

These are Shout Color Catchers after being washed with 5 yards of red fabric. The bottom two were in the first wash, the middle two were in the second wash, and the top two were in the third wash. I also used detergent and vinegar in each wash.

I was planning to use the red fabric for the backing of a red and white quilt, so I wanted to make sure the fabric wouldn’t bleed onto the white fabric in the wash or if the quilt got wet for any other reason. After three washes with the red fabric, the color catchers came out fairly clean, and I finally felt like the fabric was safe to use in the quilt.

Could I just wait and use color catchers in the first wash with the completed quilt? Yes, many quilters do this, but with the amount of dye that was transferred in the first wash of this particular fabric, there’s a strong chance the white fabric of this quilt would have been affected. It’s much, much safer to prevent a bleeding problem by prewashing fabric to remove the excess dye before ever quilting with it. It’s still a good idea to throw a couple of color catchers in the washer the first time a quilt is laundered, but the fabric will be much more colorfast and lots of headaches will be avoided if it has be pre treated in this way.

Red and white quilt with prewashed fabric