Do you prewash your fabric?

I often get asked the question "Do you prewash your fabric?"  YES, yes I do. 

1. What fabric do I wash before I use it?  Pretty much everything but precuts and wide backings that I'm familiar with.  When washing the backing fabric I also take into consideration whether or not I have washed the fabric that I used when piecing the top.  If the quilt top has prewashed fabric then I will also wash the backing fabric.
2. How do I wash my fabric?  I wash it with towels and anything white in either warm or hot water.  I use regular detergent just a splash of fabric softener and a Color Catcher.  I know right away if I need to wash it again or if it's safe to use by looking at the white towel or color catcher.
3. When is it most important to prewash?  For me it's most important when I am using any light colored fabrics with darks.  When I have purchased from a chain store such as Hobby Lobby or Joanne's.  When I have a lot of time and money invested in the quilt and I don't want it to get ruined by dye stains.
4. Why do I prewash my fabric?  I am concerned with the colors bleeding.  It's amazing how many quality fabrics can bleed.  With the cost of fabric on the rise it's important to me to spend time with it.  It sounds silly but I spent a lot of money on said material and I like to take care of it as soon as I get it home if possible.  For me, there's a satisfying feeling I get from the process of washing, drying and pressing a new fabric.  
5. Where do I purchase my fabric?  I purchase most of the fabric I use and sell here at Sharing Stitches from Checkers a wholesale distributor that specializes in high quality fabric for quilt shops.  I also purchase from local quilt shops and quilt shops I visit while traveling.  Every once in awhile I will go to a chain store.  

Here's the little story that prompted me to blog about prewashing fabric.  I'm getting organized for a quilt retreat that I'll be going on in a couple of weeks.  Packing up my project I realized that I did not wash the fabric I had just cut. I purchased it from a quality quilt shop when I was on retreat earlier this year.  First thought was 'I purchased this at a quality quilt shop, I'm not going to bother, plus I already cut it.'  Second thought was 'You will pay for this laziness!  Even if you throw in color catchers after it's quilted there's an awful lot of light fabric that this red and purple can bleed on'.  So I filled up my bathroom sink with a bit of Restoration Soap and tossed the red and purple batik fabric strips in the tepid water.  WOW, did I ever dodge a bullet.  The fabric bled big time.  So glad I decided to wash the strips just in case.

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