How to pre-wash shirt fabric? (CMT related)

msawch · May 27, 2011

I have several lengths of fabric that I'll eventually take to a shirtmaker to have made up. I have not done CMT with shirts in the past and am wondering if I should pre-wash the fabric - if I were to do so, what would be the best method (washing machine vs. hand wash / air dry vs. machine dry)?

Is there any risk of the edges fraying or other risks I should be aware of - and any methods to mitigate those risks? How many washes would be required to prevent future shrink (I'm sure there is variance from fabric to fabric, but anyone who could ballpark this would be helpful).

Also, does anyone know if Geneva pre-washes shirt fabric brought in for CMT?

Thanks

Ataturk · May 27, 2011

Why do you want to prewash fabric if your shirtmaker doesn't usually do it? Presumably they've taken shrinkage into account in the pattern. They also might not want you to preash it since it messes up the straightness of the grain and makes cutting the shirt more difficult.

Is this fabric unusual in some way? Do you expect it to shrink more than normal shirting?

badsha · May 27, 2011

If you dont know what you are doing. DO NOT pre-wash, it will do more damage then good.

hymo · May 27, 2011

I have the cut edges serged by an alterations shop. Then I soak them in water for a day, then spin till damp in the washing machine. While still damp, iron till dry. This is a different sort of ironing from ironing shirts. I leave the iron on one spot for a good while, say 15 seconds.

Then it is soaked again for a day or two. Then I launder it together with my shirts, which I typically pre-soak overnight.

Then hang dry then bring to tailor. Let the tailor worry with the pressing. So far so good.

I preshrink my cotton collar interlining even more thoroughly before giving to tailor.

The advantage: No puckered seams. At all. No need to stretch seams while damp. At all. Shirt is more fluid, or so it seems to me.

dragon8 · May 28, 2011

Originally Posted by badsha

If you dont know what you are doing. DO NOT pre-wash, it will do more damage then good.

Let your tailor pre-wash the fabric.

softy · May 28, 2011

Originally Posted by hymo

I have the cut edges serged by an alterations shop. Then I soak them in water for a day, then spin till damp in the washing machine. While still damp, iron till dry. This is a different sort of ironing from ironing shirts. I leave the iron on one spot for a good while, say 15 seconds.

Then it is soaked again for a day or two. Then I launder it together with my shirts, which I typically pre-soak overnight.

Then hang dry then bring to tailor. Let the tailor worry with the pressing. So far so good.

I preshrink my cotton collar interlining even more thoroughly before giving to tailor.

The advantage: No puckered seams. At all. No need to stretch seams while damp. At all. Shirt is more fluid, or so it seems to me.

Wow. You couldn't pay me to do this.

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How to pre-wash shirt fabric? (CMT related)

msawch

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Ataturk

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badsha

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hymo

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softy

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