Comments on: How to Care for Fabric

By: Caite

Caite — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:44:34 +0000

I work a lot with vintage fabrics and lace, here is what I have found works best.
1. ) I always wash, sadly with sun damage or incorrect fabric care a lot of fabrics fall to pieces. I will only wash them with Bicarbonate of Soda in the powder slot and a small plastic container of half/half Spirit vinegar and water in a container with the wash.
This gives you a neutral or base ph for storing the fabric safely, it will also kill fish moth eggs.

2. ) Most important thing is never use bleach for lace or whites. Bleach lingers in fabric and destroys the fiber structure. You need to rinse a bleached piece of fabric 8 or 9 times by soaking and wringing it dry, and traditionally you should do this at least twice with boiling water.
Rather use Peroxide. Place the item in a plastic container (White or clear , no colors – ice-cream tubs are good) pour in 1/2 a bottle of Peroxide (40) or more if you can only get a lower concentration and top up with cooled kettle water (1 part peroxide to 3 parts water). Place the fabric in the tub and seal. If it’s a light stain check it every few hours, if it’s a dark stain you may need to leave it for a few days. Here’s the thing, unlike bleach, peroxide won’t weaken fabric, it just whitens it.

3. ) Lastly, put cedar blocks in your fabric store, nothing worse than finding fish moths.

By: Lani

Lani — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 23:03:45 +0000

Why aren’t you suppose to wash Upholstery fabric??? I do it all the time. I make Costumes with Upholstery and Curtain Fabric. It can take the wear and tear of hard use, much better than regular fabric. The designs are more period correct for Historical costumes also.

By: Gwen

Gwen — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 15:14:19 +0000

I mostly work with quilters cottons. If you’re not planning to prewash, then you should check for colorfastness. Put a piece of selvedge in a bowl and pour warm over it. If the colour runs, then prewashing is needed.
I don’t use detergent or soap, only warm water. Fat quarters can be done one at a time in the laundry tub. I sometimes use the machine for yardage. Then it’s helpful to snip off small corners to prevent fraying. (I don’t have a serger).

By: Heather Valentine

Heather Valentine — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 13:18:37 +0000

So fantastic tips here! Love how you broke it down!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 17:32:40 +0000

In response to the idea of avoiding allergies, couldn’t we just say wash and dry without detergent or fabric softener? The temperature and tumbling effects are what cause shrinkage, correct?

By: Moqqi

Moqqi — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 15:50:59 +0000

Great tips! Thanks! Looks like I will need to go and refold all the tubs of vintage fabric I have! What a project that will be!

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 12:04:17 +0000

In reply to Andrea Pannell. Great post, Caila! That would be handy since once that fabric is cut and off the bolt, I have no idea what the care is for it! More an issue with the fabrics that are not your basic woven. I tend to wash anything handmade in cold and dry on low heat. I recommend to my customers to wash cold and line dry. And it's only to retain the colors as the quality to hold up to the machine abuse is high!

By: Andrea Pannell

Andrea Pannell — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 04:55:02 +0000

In reply to Kathleen. Now THAT would be handy!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 00:52:04 +0000

This article reminded me, when I first learned to sew garments, the fabric store I shopped at (can’t remember the name, it was LONG AGO…) used to have these little tags they would give you to sew in your garment that had the washing/ironing instructions for that particular piece of fabric. And I always sewed them into the clothes too.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:14:36 +0000

Great tips! As hard as it is to wait, I always try to wash my fabric as soon as I get home. That way, I know that any fabric I pull out if my stash has been prewashed so I don’t have to worry about surprise shrinkage later!

By: Jenya @ While she was sleeping

Jenya @ While she was sleeping — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:42:20 +0000

I always pre-wash fabric. This way I know it is clean before I sew ( I sew mostly for my daughter), I know if colours run (oh yeah I do a fair bit of pre-washing by hand in a bucket with detergent) and I know whatever I make is not going to end up one or two sizes smaller after the first wash 🙂

By: thingsforboys

thingsforboys — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:25:56 +0000

Great article Caila and welcome to the gotosew team 🙂 I was taught to always pre-wash as the finished item will be washed, so that’s what I do!

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:22:00 +0000

Great tips! I personally dry all of my knits on a clothes rack to minimize some of the pilling.

By: sewistry

sewistry — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:55:11 +0000

Lovely article– thanks for the shout out Calia!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:12:55 +0000

This is maybe random- but I worked a fair amount of retail over the years. And have unpacked and unloaded clothing for purchase your hands are black after awhile. It totally broke me. Anything that comes into my house needs to be washed. I kind of assume fabric bolts are moved around under similar conditions. I should say since I’m mostly sewing for toddlers- I don’t do a whole lot of special care fabrics!

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:09:48 +0000

Great advice! Thanks, Caila!

By: Caila

Caila — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:06:11 +0000

In reply to Farrah. Only on some, Farrah! When there are no instructions, I either ask a sales associate, or ask Google! :)

By: Farrah

Farrah — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:01:28 +0000

Awesome advice! I didn’t realize there were care instructions on the fabric bolts. Yikes !

By: Caila

Caila — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:31:08 +0000

In reply to Olga Becker. Haha, thanks Olga! :)

By: Caila

Caila — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:30:44 +0000

In reply to Georgia Anderson. Georgia, I'm so glad you brought this up! I forgot to mention this tip in my post, but it's such a great one. I'm going to start doing this from now on!

By: Olga Becker

Olga Becker — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:30:39 +0000

Very useful information, Caila. I also want your fabric, just saying. 🙂 🙂

By: Caila

Caila — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:29:58 +0000

In reply to AshleyM. Thanks good to know, Ashley, thank you! If I mix fabrics from different lines and manufacturers I usually wash ahead of time to avoid that problem, too.

By: Caila

Caila — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 20:28:48 +0000

In reply to Rosetta Troyer. Wow, such a great tip. Thank you Rosetta!

By: Georgia Anderson

Georgia Anderson — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:49:33 +0000

I take my fabric purchases directly to the serger and serge both raw edges before throwing it in the washer and dryer. It keeps the fabric from fraying in the process and if there’s ever a question as to whether a fabric was washed, the serged ends show me the answer.

By: AshleyM

AshleyM — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:37:30 +0000

As a quilter,I always prewash my fabrics. I’m not particularly concerned about shrinkage since, like you said, it can add to the charm of the quilt. However, I would be devastated if I took it out of the wash and found out one of the colors had bled and ruined other sections of the quilt!

By: Rosetta Troyer

Rosetta Troyer — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 14:40:12 +0000

Another reason to fold right side in is that if you need to make a mark on the fabric for any reason it is on the wrong side. People look at me funny when they see my stash, but I always do that, and for sure for garment fabrics.