I don't have a dryer, so my washed fabrics come out of the machine damp. I then hang them up without crunching them up or folding and iron them before they are totally dry. Then hang them up again till they are really dry and can be stored.
But..... oh horror of horrors...... most of the time I don't pre-wash my fabric, but hand-wash after the piece is finished. Works for me.
Lorchen
From the edge of Sherwood Forest, home of Robin Hood
To really get wrinkles out of fabrics you need to damp press it. If it completely dries out wrinkled, that is how it stays, even with steam ironing, until it is completely relaxed by soaking again. At least that is my experience.
Well, I can only share what I've been doing. I hand wash the fabrics (gasp)! and clip them on skirt hangers, no more than 2 fabrics on the hanger at a time. I hang them outside when it's warm but otherwise inside on the shower curtain rod. They stay pretty nice but I still need to press before I cut them. My only experience with drying fabrics in the dryer was that they came out shriveled and tattered, probably because I let them go too long and they got crispy.
I actually washed my entire stash by hand last summer. It took a long time!
I have never been a pre washer but because of problems with the storage system I am in the process of pre-washing all my fabrics. My problem is when they come out of the dryer the fabric is a WRINKLED MESS !!!
Folding is not getting the wrinkles out. What do you do to avoid the problem. I think I might have over loaded the washer and dryer but I am not sure.. I am re wetting the fabric and doing half loads to see if that helps. ( Washer and Dryer set is less than 5 years old)
Is there and effieient way to do this... YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD BE AN EXPERT AT MY ADVANCED AGE but I wear uniforms, t shirts and jean and PJs .... 90% of the time and good/specialty clothes usually get sent to the cleaners. Only pressing I do is quilt fabric.
