Picture yourself having just finished a cross-stitch project: it looks fabulous, you are proud as punch and you can't wait to have it displayed in your home. So, what's the next step? Do you reach for the beautiful frame you picked out especially for this project? Or, do you crack out the washing-up liquid and bowl and begin the process of washing, drying and ironing your finished piece? Like so many things with cross-stitch, there really is no hard and fast rule. Many very experienced stitchers never wash their pieces and run in to no issues. I, however, like to wash my pieces before framing/fully finishing and here I am going to explain a few reasons why I do this. 

1) Hand Oils

Without a doubt, the main reason why I wash my pieces is to remove the oils left behind by my hands. Even though I don't have particularly oily hands (if there is such a thing), and I always wash my hands before beginning a stitching session, it is inevitable that some of the natural oils from my hand will transfer to the fabric. This oil transfer is very light and not visible to the naked eye when you are stitching but it can cause issues down the road. I would like you now to look at the photos below. Do you see those unsightly yellowish patches on my white fabric? They were not visible when I was stitching the piece but appeared over time. I stopped working on the piece and stowed it away for several years without washing it beforehand. Over time the residual oils left behind on the fabric began to oxidise and turn this horrible colour. Those of you who wear make-up may have had problems with your foundation or concealer oxidising; what begins as a perfect match for your skin tone when you apply it in the morning can, by evening, look far too dark and taken on an orange tinge. Although you can reduce oil transfer by using grime guards to protect your fabric, I still believe that the best way to prevent these stains is to wash your piece as soon as it's finished (providing it is possible to do so- more on that later) and, if you are going to be storing a Work In Progress for some time, to wash it before placing it in storage. 

2) Dust/Lint

Although dust may not be as detrimental to your piece as oil or grime, I still think it is a good idea to remove it before framing. The lat thing you want is to go to all the effort of framing your masterpiece and then realise it is covered in tiny flecks of dust and lint. You can’t stop dust landing on your project while stitching - it is everywhere, after all- but you can get most of it off by giving your piece a nice long soak when the stitching is completed. 

3) Hoop Burn

When you are using an embroidery hoop the areas of fabric that is squeezed in between the inner and outer hoops are subject to quite a lot of pressure which can result in the fabric- or worse still, the already completed stitches- becoming dented or misshapen. This is commonly called ‘hoop burn’. Again, there isn’t really much you can do to stop hoop burn when using a hoop as the inner and outer hoops need to be secured tightly together to keep the tension tight on the area you are working on. It is not advisable to leave these areas of hoop burn untreated as they will be very obvious in your finished piece but there are some ways you can remove them. Steaming is the method favoured by a lot of people, however my favourite way to remove hoop burn is- you guessed it- to wash the piece. Soaking the finished project in warm water will relax the fibres and allow the fabric to flatten out again and the stitches to plump back up. 

A Few Words of Caution

Before I show you my preferred method of washing cross-stitch, I must first advise you that not every piece is suitable for washing. Here are a few reasons why you may choose to skip washing your piece or to make some changed to the process. 

1) Non-Colourfast Threads and Fabrics

Although most commercial needlecraft fabric and threads are colourfast- that is that their colour should not run when washed- this does not apply to every single fabric and thread available and you must always double check. Hand-dyed threads and fabrics are not always colourfast and may not be suitable for washing. Therefore, I would advise that you ALWAYS CHECK THE LABEL. Similarly, cheaper threads bought online from marketplaces are not always colourfast but may not state this on their labels. If in doubt, you can wash some unstitched thread (ideally in a darker colour) and see how it behaves. 

2) Darker Fabrics

In order to produce darker fabrics- black, navy, purple etc.- manufacturers often have to saturate the fabric with a LOT of dye. When washed, some of this dye can begin to seep out of the fabric. Therefore, if you plan to stitch on darker fabric, you may choose to wash your fabric before you begin stitching to see how it will behave in the water. 

3) Natural vs. Synthetic Fibres

Please take a moment now to think of the clothing in your wardrobe and how different pieces react in different ways to hear (hot washes, ironing, steaming etc.) Whilst your cotton and linen pieces can probably tolerate a hot wash or an iron on a high setting, perhaps the same cannot be said for your synthetic garments (acrylic, polyester etc.). I think most of us have made the mistake of shrinking a favourite top in a hot wash or ruining a good pair of trousers with a hot iron. The same principle applies to cross-stitch materials. While our cotton thread or linen fabric might tolerate the heat well, synthetic thread (metallic threads in particular) will not do well under a hot iron. Remember that, not matter their fancy names, synthetic fibres are plastic and plastic can melt! It is possible to wash pieces stitched on synthetic fabric or with synthetic threads, you just need to be careful that your water is not too hot and that they are well protected (with a tea-towel for example) before ironing. Obviously, you don’t want your iron on it’s hottest setting!
Note: Some threads- especially those bough on online marketplaces- may look like stranded cotton (DMC, Anchor etc.) but are actually made of polyester instead of cotton. That is why they are quite a lot cheaper- because they are made of plastic! By all means stitch with them if you like, but do be careful when it comes to washing or ironing your piece for the reasons stated above. 

My Washing Process

If you have decided that your piece is ‘safe’ to wash, you may want to know how to go about it. Obviously, you can wash whatever way seems fit to you (although PLEASE don’t put it in the washing machine!), but this is how I like to do it:

Step 1: I like to give my piece a quick look over just to make sure that there are no loose threads or beads, which could be disturbed during the washing process. 

Step 2: I fetch a large bowl in which to wash the piece. I prefer to use a large mixing bowl, either clear or white so  that if dye from the fabric does start to run, I can spot it quickly and take action. Sometimes, I will wash my piece in the bathroom sink which is white. If you are going to use a kitchen washing up basin, please do make sure to give it a good wash out beforehand.

Step 3: Half fill the bowl with warm water. The exact temperature will depend on the materials you have used in the piece. For cotton/linen fabric and cotton threads I use water that is quite warm- nearly hot. For synthetic fabric or synthetic threads, I stick to lukewarm water. If you are washing a piece stitched on easy-count fabric, you may need to use water that is quite hot to remove the grid-lines. It is likely that if you have stitched a full-coverage piece you have used only stranded-cotton so this should not be too much of an issue.

Step 4: Squeeze in a dollop of washing-up liquid (dish soap). The reason I use washing-up liquid is because it is designed to dissolve grease such as the oils from our hands. I prefer to use original Fairy Liquid (the green one) but I also have used Ecover with good results. I will note here that I have had strange experiences with anti-bacterial washing-up liquid (usually blue) leaving a sticky residue so I do tend to avoid those. Give your water a quick mix to get it nice and sudsy and if you think it is a bit too hot, now is the time to add in a little cold water. 

Step 5: Once the your piece has had a nice long soak, remove it from the water and give it a good rinse with  clean cold water. I like to do this under a running tap, but if you have used beads, please make sure that the flow of the water is not so strong that is disturbs them. You now want to gently squeeze the excess water from your piece. Please remember to squeeze only- never wring or twist your piece.

Step 6: Now, lay your piece onto a clean towel and slowly roll it up, applying a little pressure as you go. The goal here is to remove as much remaining water as you can without damaging your piece of cross-stitch.

Step 7: Let the piece air-dry flat. It may be tempting to place it next to a radiator or a blow-heater to speed up the process but I would advise against that. Needless to say, we don’t ever put our cross-stitch in the tumble-dryer!

Once your piece is dry it is ready for framing or finishing in whatever way you please (we’ll talk about that in another blog-post). One final word of caution, though: if you are planning to frame your piece, please- PLEASE- make sure that it is absolutely bone dry before doing so. The last thing you want is to frame your piece and then watch in horror as condensation begins to form on the inside of the glass- I speak from experience on that one!