# cotton batting



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Went to the local quilt shop this afternoon. Very small shop, only had 100% cotton batting. I don't have a dryer, how can I shrink this? The lady suggested putting it in hot water and it would naturally shrink. Should I do this?


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

I've never pre-shrunk batting, but then I don't pre-shrink my fabric, either. I wash on cool and hang dry when cleaning is needed. :shrug:


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

I don't preshrunk my batting, either cotton or wool. I do pre wash my fabric. I have never had a problem with batting, however I am careful about how I wash quilts.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

I sometimes prewash the fabric....sometimes I forget. I've never prewashed the batting.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

This quilt will be given to a new mother. I suspect it will not get the care we would give it. I went ahead and put it in hot water for fifteen minutes, then drained it and hung it to dry. It didn't shrink when I ironed it, so the soaking worked. Now I have to layer everything nicely. I have one week to get it quilted so I'm going to machine quilt.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Any reason to not use synthetic batting on a quilt for a fabric clueless person? I definitely keep in mind whom will be getting a gift, and use mixed fabrics with synthetic stuffings if they don't know much about sewing or care of material. I consider it a kindness, makes it much easier on them to care for such a gift. Baby stuff ALWAYS gets some kind of staining, so easy wash care is highest on my list when I make gifts for new baby. They get washed a LOT, so what you make it out of is real important. No natural fabrics, cotton, wool, linen things for babies. Just doesn't take that "rough" care, frequent washing and drying very well.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I'm sure this won't be the only baby blanket. They live in Texas, so cotton seemed like a good choice. I used to use polyester many years ago. The store I was in didn't have any, so it was cotton or wool.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

If they live in TX, especially south TX, synthetic batting that does not breath well is going to be hot and miserable. Cotton is a much better choice, wool would fine as well. Just wear some synthetic clothing for a day in Houston, I bet you won't make that mistake again!


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Just was a suggestion, if the store doesn't carry synthetics, you can't buy them to use. I just don't want to give a gift, put a lot of time into it, that won't have a fighting chance of surviving in the care of the receiving person.

And a blanket is SUPPOSED to offer SOME warmth, so synthetic would not be a bad choice to keep a baby warmish, if mom thought baby needs covering up.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

In a fire, cotton or wool is better than polyester. Also, while this was a challenge for me, it was not hand pieced or hand quilted like the ones I make for my grandkids. Still, my quilts sometimes don't even get used, they are put on a wall. This one will be used, one more reason not to hand quilt and make it "too good".


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

Maura, I made quilts for my boys a couple years ago. Those two are probably the first big quilts I made. I used Hobby Lobby fabric and one has cotton batting and one has a blanket for batting. Flannel on the back of both. Those quilts have been thru it. They've been drug all over the house and yard, washed multiple times, gone on campouts, to camp for a week, one the dog has chewed holes in that I had to patch (thankfully on the back!), and anything else you can think of that two boys would put a quilt through. They're holding up just fine. They don't get any special treatment. Washed on cold and into the dryer they go. 
I think yours will hold up just fine!


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Maura, I think you're on the right track - just put the stuff through the strongest washing it will receive in use (sometimes a scalding purification is called for) so the elements don't shrink at different rates.

My LQS sez folks like the batting to shrink a bit to puff up the quilt - it's supposed to shrink evenly, unlike fabric.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Yea, I might use cotton batting unshrunk and let it shrink in the wash. But, I would never do that with fabric because the fabrics will shrink different amounts. I've even had fabric that shrunk 10%. I always tell my students to preshrink the fabric with either the dryer or an iron.


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

If the batting is a good quality, it won't matter so much that it is cotton. Being careful to quilt as densely as the manufacturer recommends will be just as important. Those density recommendations aid in keeping the batting from pulling apart into *wads* like the store-bought comforters. Cotton has a memory. If it is folded, the cotton will remember the fold marks. Poly has no memory. (That's why we came out with the poly clothes in the 70s.....wash and wear.) Wallhangings and show quilts--I def choose poly, just because of the memory/folded up when not in use factor. Breathability in cotton and wool is so much better--I agree. 

I don't pre-wash batting and I don't pre-wash fabric. Life is too short. I do wash everything in cold water and line dry....and I always spend a little more and buy quality. You can determine quality by the 'hand' of the fabric. Just because it is more expensive, doesn't mean it is a higher quality. Just my humble opinion.....


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

When I bought fabric at JoAnn's I would get it wet then put in dryer. I didn't wash it because when the sizing came out it was too difficult to work with. I learned to spray the new fabric down then iron it to shrink. Then I was able to get high end fabric and didn't bother prewashing or shrinking until I had a bad experience. Even the Moda gets sprayed down and ironed.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Farmchix, you make good points. There's advantages to poly fill/batting that sporting goods makers have developed too that can stay warm when wet, weigh less than cotton, dry quickly, and like polypropylene, wick moisture. But it's all plastics.


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## RebelDigger (Aug 5, 2010)

Grandma taught me to wash the fabric in hot water and line dry it . She then starched the heck out of it to make it easy to work with. Cotton was a different critter. She and I used to glean my uncle's cotton fields after he combined, there was a lot of cotton left the combine did not get. We would take it back to her house, use carding combs to get the seeds out then wash it in hot water and spread it out on sheets on top of the well house to dry. After it dried, it got run through the carding combs again to make it nice and smooth and ready to lay out on the quilt backing . You could wash her quilts in hot water and dry them in the dryer after all that. I think the key with natural fibers is to treat them the way they are going to be treated when finished before you put them together.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Wow! A few of us have processed our own wool, but I don't know anyone who processed cotton.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

I have an old quilt that was made in TX in the 20's that has a hand gleaned and processed batt. It is still in pretty good condition, the batt better than the fabric, and I'm sure it was used, not a decoration.


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