Friday Fun Fact: Fabric pre-washing secrets!

We recommend prewashing most fabrics before you sew, using the method you plan to use to wash the finished project.

Yes, even silk.

Yes, even wool.

If you plan to machine wash the finished project - great for cotton, linen, flannel, and rayon - go ahead and machine wash and dry the fabric. Just throw it in with your usual laundry, keeping colors in mind.

You can hand-wash wool to pre-shrink, or have it steamed at a dry cleaner. Use cold water and avoid agitating. Let it soak a bit, then squeeze the extra water out and air-dry.

Soft silks can get a cool hand wash and hang dry.

The exceptions?

Quilting fabrics - prewashing them is optional, but with small pre-cuts like jelly rolls, prewashing can ravel way too much fabric away and ruin your perfect 2.5" strips, so don't prewash those!
 
You can also skip prewashing 100% polyester, since it's unlikely to shrink or change.

Crisp silks like taffeta and dupioni will soften with washing, so avoid prewashing.