Cuties ! this is a photo of shrinkage of flour sack and other kitchen towels and I can not believe my eyes. A washed one layed next to a new one. Now I am concerned as to all the kitchen towels I have done over the years were disasters when washed. I saw this link as I was looking on Grandma Debbie new recipe towels and found a link to a towel company that said to wash the towels. What do others think. Kay

I am not surprised, and yes if you did not prepare your fabric before construction, changes could happen in the wash. It is too late now to worry about it. If the fabric was cut off grain at the factory before the blanks were made and they won't fold, there is not much you can do about it. I have cut off lots of pieces to make things square. It is the way it is, some factories put out off grain pieces,

Thanks for the information, might save some of us many problems by pre-washing

After reading glowing reports of embroidering on flour sack towels I bought three packets of four each when I was in AZ in 2010. I washed them when I came home to work on them - I wash everything before working on it - and, yes, they did shrink but that didn't worry me so much. I am sooooo disappointed with them. What can I do with them? They are the wrong shape to fold, incredibly floppy and worse when wet. At best they might swaddle a new-born baby gently and comfortably. I didn't even need them and now I've got twelve of them waiting to be turned into something useful.
Was Walmart the wrong place to buy these towels???
AlmaG.

2 comments

by greysewist 17 Jan 2014

Well, it'd be a long trip to take them back, Alma, but might be a good excuse for you to make another visit :) Failing that, maybe you can cut them square enough to be able to use them for a smaller project like placemats etc, or could you use them as filling/absorption for dishwasher drying mats or trivets etc?

by almag 19 Jan 2014

Hi there - these towels have less body than the baby muslin we can buy in Spotlight. No doubt I'll find some use for them but I won't be embroidering them. They remind me of the softest of soft Mothercare cheesecloth towel and face washer I had when my babies were tiny but much less quality. I guess that one day a use will pop into my mind and I'll be glad that I hoarded them for so long.

Thank you for the information on towels.

Wow! Big difference. I do wash towels and clothing items before I sew on them - not sure if they shrink or not - but I wash anyway.

Very dramatic illustration of the shrinkage. I have purchased the ones suggested on Gramdma Debbie's site and because they said to prewash I did. Even after starching and ironing I could not get them pretty again. So I now have a 20 year supply of kitchen towels. I would never waste my time and thread embroidering on them. I am now in search of another resource for towels. None of the towels I had purchased before wrinkled as badly as those. Becky

1 comment

by katydid 15 Jan 2014

I did not buy any from that site , but I did buy some similar towels from another site. I bought some huck and flour sack towels.

I wash all my fabrics before using them. I want to see what the Customer will see once washed and avoid shrinkage and design problems after stitching. I have on occasion washed again after stitching to see how it comes out and it is fine.

1 comment

by katydid 15 Jan 2014

When I used to sew more, I always washed my fabric before I cut something out. I would serge the ends and throw into the washer and dryer. If the fabric came out a mess, I never made any thing out of it. Kay

I never thought about this either until last week when i picked up some reduced red kitchen towels from KMart that i'm doing for mum for next Xmas, I thought because of colour I'd better wash them first and to my surprise they shrunk by 2in in width and length when put up against some white I was shocked like you. I guess i'll be washing everything first from now on.. p.s. the white also shrunk maybe the brand

It would be interesting to try this again after embroidering on the towel, I think, just to see if the design goes loopy or still looks fine. Chances are that those who you embroider them for don't even use them but just hang them to pretty up the place :) I guess they may still want to give them a wash at some point, though. Good thought for the rest of us, thanks.

Can't remember bring home fabric, towels, etc. that don't get tossed into the washer and dryer for removing the industrial chemicals and the sizing even though the sizing gives a pretty finish and to shrink at the hottest temperature the fabrics can take. And then there are the unknowns as to who and with clean or grimy hands had touched these items and how many times did they end up on the store floors. It is easy enough to add back the starch.

Having once had a disaster with a shirt I made (forgot to wash first) after the first washing the shirt would have fitted a 10 year old!!! I always wash tea towels first before any embroidery, as I know that here in S. Africa they shrink. Sarah

I try to pre-wash any cotton in the hottest water I think the user will use. I have forgotten...
If it helps, I know there are some towels that claim no shrinkage.

Wow, Kay, that is a significant difference!

1 comment

by katydid 15 Jan 2014

I never dreamed they would shrink that much.

Oh my, I guess I should be pre-washing!!! Yikes!! Laura*