I only use some thing I can wash and dry.

I only use a line, and wash in cold water......so I can get away with all sorts of fabrics.

I think they just put that kind of care message just to cover their b... If it says it is cotton I would wash it and put it in the dryer. I do respect most of the dry clean only warnings.
Pat

If it's cotton then you should be able to throw it in the dryer. I have read that it's mostly the drying that fades fabric -- the heat, I think. So maybe they say that to protect it.

I have never looked at care instructions when it 100% cotton. I didn't even realize they PUT care instructions online!!!!

Now I'd be curious to know if you do buy some of the "line dry only" fabric if the quality seems different in any way.

I have never noticed the warning. I guess I will have to look closer. I really don't understand the need to only line dry if it is 100% cotton. If I have any doubt I wash and dry in the dryer. Jayne

If I were going to mix unlike fabrics - say rayons or wools with cottons - and IF I intended to machine wash them, I would probably prewash all the fabrics in the way I intended to treat the finished object.

It's your project. Go with what works for you.

When I took home ec. in high school, I was taught about the fiber content and care instructions that were on the end of each bolt of fabric along with other important info such as the width and I love it when on-line sites include this info.
I was thinking more about shrinkage than color fastness, but that makes more sense as it's pretty apparent with this 100% cotton batik. (But what a difference in care!)
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat3017&PRODID=prd26788

And below is the link to the turtle fabric I brought, also 100% cotton.

I suppose that prewashing may help with most of these factors, so that one fabric doesn't shrink more than the others or bleed color into all the others.
But to be honest, I don't have time for anything that isn't machine wash and dry! And to be completely honest, once I get the fabric out of the store, I'm very likely to forget entirely what the care instructions were especially if they are all 100% cotton!

(I think my name is...) ;)
Cathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Turtle line dry only

Cathy,

I've used that exact turtle fabric in a baby quilt. It washes and dries just fine. It didn't bleed. It might have shrunk, but not noticeably.

I wouldn't even bother to prewash with those two. Use a Shout color-catcher in the wash if you're worried.

I brutally prewash/shrink all my quilting fabrics in the sink before they are even allowed up the stairs to the studio. By this I mean that I wash them in the hottest water that comes out of our water heater, in laundry detergent. Anything that bleeds gets rewashed and rewashed until all the loose dye is gone. I use so many different brands of fabric in my quilts and I've gotten burned often enough by "bleeders" that this is the only way that I can guarantee that my fabrics will behave as I want them to once they are in a quilt. Since almost everything I make is a gift, I have to know that they'll stand up to machine washing and drying.

Annie

I'm with Annie....in the wash-everything-before-it-is-allowed-in-the-sewing-room camp. Even most fabrics used for clothing. Never go to the dry cleaner's except to take table cloths for the office where I work.

Teresa

I prewash everything, too. I've heard that if 100% cotton says "dry clean only," it's probably because of sizing or something put on to make it shiny. That it's washable, but will lose some of its "feel" if washed.

I also mix fabrics, but wash and dry the finished quilts gently.

Cheryl