Guide to pre-washing fabrics for your sewing and clothes making projects

Question One
Are you planning to wash the item you're about to make during its lifetime, or will you dry clean it?

a) "I'm only going to dry clean it or never wash it"

• You don't need to pre-wash your fabric. Under normal conditions, the process of dry cleaning should not shrink your clothes, as it uses a chemical solvent in a machine that both washes and dries your clothes
• You may need to buy extra fabric for other reasons - click here or scroll down to find out

b) "Yes, I am planning to wash it"
 Go to Question Two

Question Two

• Does your fabric contain any natural content - i.e. cotton, wool, viscose or linen? If so, you need to buy 10% extra fabric and pre-wash your fabric before you cut out and sew it. Man-made fabrics generally don't shrink, but you can wash them anyway if you want to be on the safe side! Follow our pre-washing guide below.
• You may need to buy additional extra fabric for other reasons - click here or read on to find out

Reasons you may want/need to buy extra fabric for your project

1. If you are going to wash fabric with any natural content, it may shrink - fabric usually shrinks 3-10%. Even boiled wool shrinks significantly when washed! There's always a chance it will shrink more, but it's unlikely. Buy at least 10% extra for each project where you plan to wash it at some point
2. You are tall or want a longer garment, curtain, or larger size item than your pattern or project provides - buy 2-4x the extra length you need. Eg if you want the trousers 10cm longer than the pattern, buy 20-40cm of extra fabric. The way the pattern is laid out on the fabric may need up to 4x this extra length depending on the style of garment or item 
3. You are using patterned fabric with a 'repeat', and you want to match this on at least one seam - buy 0.5-1m extra, depending on the size of the repeat and number of items you are making. i.e. for curtains, you may need this extra per curtain. When you buy fabric, they may be able to advise, or if buying online, it should say the size of the repeat. You could email the seller to ask if it doesn't state this.
   
   

Fabric pre-washing guide

1. Check the laundry instructions on your fabric. Does it indicate a max temperature or whether it can be tumble dried, and which iron temperature can be used on it (if ironing is suitable at all - think PVC, which wouldn't be iron-able!)
2. Keep a note of these instructions with your fabric and item after you have made it
3. Wash your fabric at the temperature you plan to wash it when it's sewn into an item, like this:

The very best method - no spin!: Machine washing with NO SPIN is by far the best method for washing your fabric, as it avoids the often permanent creases (or very pesky-to-iron creases!) that come from spinning a large amount of fabric in a washing machine. Thicker fabrics like denim, cotton drill and corduroy are often so permanently creased if machine washed and spun that it can render them unusable : (
Read on for our NO SPIN washing advice.....

You will need:

• Somewhere fabric can hang and drip dry? e.g. garden, balcony or over the bath. Even in the living room with a plastic sheet on the floor (bath curtain?)
• A tub with no holes in it (like a storage box) that will hold your fabric after it has been washed
• A washing machine that can wash it on a gentle wash cycle at the desired temperature with NO SPIN
• Detergent?
• You don't need any detergent as your fabric is already clean (hopefully!), but you could opt to use a conditioner to soften up your fabric.
• If using vintage fabric or fabric that's been stored for a long time, DO use double detergent in the drawer plus a conditioner, and set your washing machine to do a pre-wash as sometimes older fabric smells of mildew.

Let's wash it!:
Set your washer following the guidelines above and check the spin is turned off. You only need a short wash if your fabric is new. Have your tub and your drying space ready. Go!

Drain and spin:
Once the washer has finished, due to not spinning it there will be water in the machine and it may be dyed a colour if your fabric lost colour on its first wash. Drain and spin the machine, so it's water- and dye-free for your next whites wash! If a lot of colour came out you might consider running a short empty wash or washing some darks next.

The second best fabric washing method - tennis balls! If you have nowhere to dry dripping fabric, pick the gentlest wash and lowest possible spin speed and if you have them, pop a few tennis balls in the machine, these help avoid creasing. Dryer balls may also help

Ironing your fabric


Tip 1: Ironing while still damp: It can be much easier to iron very slightly damp fabric (take care not to stretch it, which can happen if it's too damp). But equally, using the no-spin method, ironing should be fairly easy anyway.

Tip 2: Spray bottle/spray function on iron: This is your friend when it comes to creases, especially on 2 dots with no steam. We have a spray bottle with water in it on our classroom ironing station

• Once your fabric has almost dried/dried, iron it on the WRONG SIDE (the reverse, to avoid flattening the fibres and creating possible shininess).
• Use the iron temperature indicated on the fabric.
• If in doubt, try it on 2 dots on a corner, and check there's no burning smell. On 2 dots use no steam (you can only use steam with 3 dots otherwise it's just water). 
• You could then gingerly test it on 3 dots if it was fine on 2 dots. Generally if your fabric has man-made fibres it needs to be ironed on 2 dots/no steam.
• For 100% cotton, go for it at max temperature with steam.
• Let it cool before folding or rolling ready for your sewing project

Happy sewing!

Need a hand getting the perfect finish inside and out? Or want help deciphering your sewing pattern and instructions? Book onto a few Stitch! Sessions - our flexible regular mixed project and level classes in Brighton and Hove. Stitch! Session details and booking here