Washing Floss or Yarn

Posted by Fred on September 21, 2006, 2:40 pm

Does anyone here wash their floss or yarn *before* they start stitching?
It would seem to be the most reasonable way to make sure that the colors
would not leach out later when the design is stitched and washed.
Sometime ago I think that someone mentioned that washing before use makes
the floss or yarn a bit kinky and causes it to tangle more. Truth or
fiction??
I use Anchor floss which I'm told is very color fast and have never washed
it before use or after. I'm not sure what the other brands that are on the
market are like.
I'm a fairly clean stitcher so I have never had to wash a stitched
needlepoint that was done with yarn.

Fred
http://www.stitchaway.com
Don't backstitch to email
just stitchit.

The closer you get to perfection
the harder it is to achieve.

W.I.P. - "Fiddler on the Roof",
"Oriental Maiden".

Posted by ellice on September 21, 2006, 10:36 am

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I do know people that wash some floss - you have to be careful laying it out
to dry so that it doesn't get kinky. Of course, you could just lay it out
to damp dry, and then put a thin press cloth over it, and iron. The only
time any of my regular stitching pals (local) wash is if it's a piece with
either a lot of reds, or a good amount of overdye that they fear is going to
need washing at the end. One of my friends washed some dark overdyes
specifially to soften the gradation of color. Personally, I don't.

If it's kinky - you can always use thread heaven, which I use anyhow with my
overdyes.

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I use Anchor as well. FWIW, Weeks dyes on Anchor floss, and I'm pretty sure
that NN does as well (or did). At the shop, we wash pieces all the time,
and have not had any running problems - as long as they're just floss or
yarn. I don't know anyone that washes yarn first. I'd really hesitate to do
that - especially if it's any kind of blend. I know that when I knit, I now
wash the woolens with Eucalan - which doesn't really get rinsed out, as it's
good for the fibers. When we block NP, it's pretty wet to start, and
haven't had any problems. I've washed some older pieces - no problems -
yet.

You just made me think of one of our very nice customers. She came in,
wanted to do something a little different with some Irish saying sampler she
was about to start. So, I talked with her, and she decided to do a big
section in overdyed green floss. I'm sure I told her to check the tags, that
it wasn't colorfast, etc - as we do her framing and she's one of the
regulars that washes her stuff before bringing it in. Evidently I wasn't
emphatic enough. The shop owner calls me up a day I'm not working - "guess
what, ---- finished the sampler, and she WASHED it - the whole thing is full
of green dye runs" Followed by our debate on my instructions, customer
listening, and us giving her a new piece of fabric....

Ellice
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