World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of October 13, 1997:
Our question this week comes from Kadi
How does one deter the fraying of fabric edges when pre-washing fabric?
Carol :
I always serge the raw edges of my fabrics
before I wash them. The small amount of
fabric lost to the serger is less than the
amount of fabric lost to threads in the wash.
Also the trimmings fill up an old mason jar
in my sewing room for a dash of color.
Diane :
I place smaller pieces of fabric to be prewashed in a lingerie bag. Seems to help tremendously.
Ruth S. :
Soaking the fabric in warm water in the sink or tub with a bit of woolite or dish detergent has the same effect of pre-washing by machine, but results in no frayed edges. The fabric can be rinsed out and hung over a towel rack to dry. It's easy, painless, and less work than untangling all of that fabric coming out of the dryer!
Margaret Ann Smith :
Snip the corners off the piece of fabric before washing to deter fraying.
Ruth Pressler :
If you have them tear the fabric instead of cut it when you buy it. It is straight and doesn't fray as much. The threads that fray are usually from fabric that is cut. It is not straight the fraying make it straight. I don't worry about it. Sure wish more fabric stores would tear instead of cut. Til you get a half yard piece straightened you can loose up to 3 inches. Also, there seems to be less fraying with larger pieces of fabric ie: yard or more.
Carolyn Whitley at Toll House Quilts :
Woven fabrics can be prepared for pre-washing by cutting diagonal corners. The Bias edge will prevent fraying. Pinking might help.
Kim :
My husband was always complaining about the fabric fraying, and tying itself
into knots around the clothes in the
wash. We found that if you wash the fabric in a lingerie bag it does not fray nearly as much. The bags are available in different sizes, they are nylon mesh bags some with zippers, some with pull strings. I've gotten them at the lingerie store, and at the discount store. good luck!
Kayce :
I usually put a line of LONG, narrow zig-zag stitches (as long as the machine makes) accross the ends. I also leave the fabric folded - together the seem to hold up better.
Margaret Gaetani :
I use a wavy edged rotary cutter. It's fast and easy to use and it works. You can use any rotary cutter and just buy Olfa's wavy edge blade. That's what I did. Then just recut your fabric raw edges with the wavy edge, wash your fabric, throw it in the dryer.
Nina Garesch :
I had read and heard to snip at an angle the corners of the fabric. I usually do both ends and sometimes i even snip all 4 corners . It seems to work pretty well.
JoyAnnaC :
cut a triangle off each corner
before washing
and/or
wash in a mesh laungerie bag
JBR :
Use your serger to join the two raw edges together so that you have a big "tube" of fabric. No frayed edges and minimal yardage lost when you trim off the serging stitches.
Amy :
These are the tips I've gleaned from the web: serge the edges; zigzag the edges; or, snip a small triangle off each selvedge (I think this one is for fabrics that fray really bad); or pink the egdes. Try them to see which you like best.
Esther :
I cut a small piece from each corner of the fabric. It still will ravel some but not as much.
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week