Do you always pre-wash fabric?
aunt_lou
14 years ago
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donnas_gw
14 years agonoinwi
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Always wash off old soil when re-potting?
Comments (13)For veggies and annuals, like JoJo I just shaggle some of the loose soil off, and pop in into the 5-1-1. However, for anything long term, like houseplants, I'll bareroot the thing, wash the peat soil off, and repot. Anything going into the gritty mix always gets washed of ALL soil. Leaving any substantial amount of the old, cruddy peat soil around the roots creates a little patch of soil that has different properties then the rest of your mix, and can create problems. The 5-1-1 mix naturally dries out faster, but the wad of peat on the roots may still be wet. As for the timing thing with trees and shrubs, well, that's up to you personally. In your zone, it is a bit late for repotting, but in my opinion, I see no benefit in leaving them in a crumby mix any longer then they have to. For me, here in zone 4, things are not too far along, so repotting now isn't as detrimental. Joe...See Moredo you wash your dishes before you wash your dishes?
Comments (20)One of the reasons to *not* rinse/prewash dishes is if you use an enzyme detergent it needs the food particles to work better. It'll etch glass and stuff if it doesn't have the food particles. I can't explain it well, but it's easy research for a more thorough explanation. Most just recommend scraping the dishes (and really, who wouldn't?!) then into the DW. I haven't had a dishwasher for more than 30 years but I'm starting to miss it. I would get grossed out though when it left stuff on it. When washing by hand and using a good soap it gets clean. Sure, you just put it back in and rewash but it still bugs me. It also bugs me to see people leave dirty dishes in the DW for a week before washing them. Argh! If it takes a week to fill it, you should have a smaller DW or use a top rack only feature. This is what impresses me about the F&P Dish Drawers. And geez, I can wash a few dishes FAR faster than an hour or two for a dishwasher! LOL And when you compare the time to load the dishwasher vs washing, it's pretty close. Time's not a factor. It's the hassle of washing them. I soak my dishes and a quick swish, rinse in HOT water and into the drainer to dry. Putting them away is comparable to time in a DW. Oh, and one thing I found out quickly, the way you load it makes a big difference. You have to learn how the water sprays and make sure it's not blocked for effective washing....See MoreDilemma re: pre-washing fabric
Comments (12)Wow oh Wow! Again, what a heartwarming gift your Mom left you! Make sure you label all the quilts - I would make up some labels now and hand attach to each of the UFO's. You can't possibly get all 34 finished soon and your Mom's name and date needs to be on these UFO's. How big is the top one - a Stack n Whack or some version. She had a good eye for color & placement. Re your Bernina, I suggest you read the manual and learn how to thread it and wind a bobbin and basic functions on your own, before you get your formal training -- even if it is just a straight stitch - start at the beginning of the manual, identify the parts and feet and get familiar with the machine. You will get soooooo much more out of the training, if you have learned a little about how to operate the Bernina. You have help here on specifics (not me) if you have a question. Remove the needle in the beginning if that makes you more comfortable. You know how to sew & sewing machines are pretty basic -- except for those fancy stitches and you are going to ignore that for now. I love seeing the quilts your Mom left you. Thank you!...See MoreArt quilt --pre-wash or not....lesson learned
Comments (9)Well, I firmly believe in prewashing for a couple of reasons. The main one is that I have seen some disastrous things happen to quilts in terms of bleeding fabrics. One of the worst was a quilt that I finished hand-quilting for a friend and then she asked me to wash it for her. The rust colored fabric bled like crazy in COLD water! It took dozens of rinses with dye catcher sheets before that rust dye quite bleeding into the white sections of the quilt. I have a fabric in the sink right now that's on it's fourth run through and still bleeding like crazy. Can you imagine what all that black dye would do to a quilt? Secondly, because I often use lots of fabrics from lots of different fabric lines in the same quilt, I want everything preshrunk because they will all shrink at different rates: from hardly at all up to 5%. (And sometimes more if it was loosely woven to begin with.) Most of my quilts end up as gifts and I need to know that when they are washed, no matter what the temperature, both the color and the size will stay constant. And don't forget about your battings. Cotton and cotton-blend battings do shrink, so if you want your quilt to stay crisp looking, you will need to preshrink your battings, too. I personally like the crinkly vintage look that I get when I use an unshrunk batting and I think that the quilt ends up a bit softer, but for wallhangings, I usually preshrink and I definitely preshrink batting for quilts that are designated for shows. Concerning blocking: Yes, when you quilt, especially if you put in a lot of thread, things can get out of square and change size on you. If possible leave yourself an extra inch in the final border to allow you to square things as much as possible by trimming. Then plan to block the finished project. However, while blocking is good, but it can't work miracles. Slight skewing can be corrected by blocking, but, no you can't pull fabrics that have shrunk during washing back to their original size. When washing a quilt that contains fabrics that haven't been prewashed, be sure to use cold water for both washing and rinsing. The temperature change from warm or hot to cold induces shrinkage, as does the heat of your dryer, so you will want to dry it flat and lightly block it. This is why you may even notice some fabrics shrink when you press them, especially if you use steam or starch. For blocking: I pin small projects to my design wall, which is uncovered styrofoam insulation board, and let them dry that way. It does make for a nice, square project. I use a big carpenter's square to get things lined up right and then point a fan at them to get the air moving and speed up the process. Annie...See Morebirdtalker
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