First quilt - batting question

[Kerallyn]

I am making a quilt for my nephew who is due just after New Year's.  My sister is like natural themes and is very environmentally conscious so I'm using all cotton fabrics and have found 100% cotton batting.  The packaging says you can pre-soak it if you want avoid shrinkage but makes it sound optional.  So my question is do I want to avoid shrinkage and what is needed to preshrink it?  The batting is considerably larger than my quilt will be, so do I do the whole thing, or do I try to cut it first and hope it doesn't shrink too much?  If I do the whole thing, how soaked does it have to be?  Can I just get it wet and let it dry, or does it have to sit in the water for a while?  Should I use hot or cold water?  Does it have to lay flat to dry or can I hang it over the shower rod?

Thanks for helping

[kylenstevesmom]

I have never heard of preshrinking your batting before... so I would say yes it's totaly optional!

Now in saying that I haven't used to much cotton batting because I found polyster at a thrift store cheap so I used that instead.

Have you preshrunk you fabric?   If so then it makes sense to preshrink the batting. You will be cutting away the excess batting once you finish binding the quilt, so even if you preshrink it it's not going to make a difference, but that is only my opinion so maybe someone else knows more.

Another think that could happen if you didn't preshrink the fabric, and preshrunk the batting, then when your sister goes to wash the quilt, the fabric will shrink but the batting won't. 

What I tell people when giving them baby quilts is to wash it in cold and hang it to dry.  Most people I send to live in hot countries so tumble dryers are rare, so they are hanging it to dry anyways. 

Good Luck

Theresa

[Kerallyn]

I have washed the fabric which I'm assuming will cause any shrinking that's going to happen.  So I guess I should do the same for the batting.  Any thoughts how how long it needs to soak in order to shrink?  Is it enough to just get it wet and then hang it, or does it need to sit in the water for a while?

[SimplySandy]

Don't worry about preshrinking the batting.  Once your wash the quilt after it's finished, the crinkling look from the small amount of shrinkage will give it a wonderful look.

[Tangerine_Dreams]

If you really want to pre-shrink, you can use your tub (that's what I did the one time I pre-shrunk lol).  But honestly, I'm lazy and just wash everything at the end in the washing machine (and use color catchers just in case ).

[sloth003]

i usually preshrink my fabric but not my batting.  simplysandy is right.  you get a cool old style crinkle when your batting shrinks after the quilt is done.

[Kerallyn]

If you really want to pre-shrink, you can use your tub (that's what I did the one time I pre-shrunk lol).  But honestly, I'm lazy and just wash everything at the end in the washing machine (and use color catchers just in case ).

Ooh, what are color catchers?  I get the concept, but what do you actually put in there?

[nemejia]

If you really want to pre-shrink, you can use your tub (that's what I did the one time I pre-shrunk lol).  But honestly, I'm lazy and just wash everything at the end in the washing machine (and use color catchers just in case ).

Ooh, what are color catchers?  I get the concept, but what do you actually put in there?

I use Carbona Dye Grabber found in the detergent aisle of my supermarket. there are other brands as well

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&um=1&sa=1&q=dye+grabber&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0

[CraftyBikerChick]

I never pre-wash fabrics (sometimes the reds) or batting. Are you using Warm and Natural? That's what I use. I've never had a problem with it.

[Tangerine_Dreams]

Shout Color Catchers.  I get it in the laundry aisle.  I usually use 1 or 2 depending on the colors.  I have a quilt with some Bright Pink Kona Cotton that STILL bleeds a bit, but the color catcher always picks it up.  Works well and keeps my white Kona from being stained. 

http://www.shoutitout.com/preserve-colors.aspx


(And I like Warm and Natural batting too!!)