Pillow Ticking and Sizing

I see a lot on the forum about washing pillow ticking to remove sizing. What is the reason? Would it be necessary to prewash if I use a wet patch lube?

It taste bad....plus some say it tightens the weave of the material, too my understanding.

Washing the sizing out of ticking removes the stiffness from the cloth and makes it much more flexible; also it removes stuff that would otherwise be in the way of your lube fully saturating your patch.

I've used patching that I forgot to wash, and performance didn't seem to suffer. The washed ones are a little more flexible though.

BJCollings said:

I see a lot on the forum about washing pillow ticking to remove sizing. What is the reason? Would it be necessary to prewash if I use a wet patch lube?

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Fabric sizing is a starch, I don't want starch in my barrel.

Treestalker said:

Washing the sizing out of ticking removes the stiffness from the cloth and makes it much more flexible; also it removes stuff that would otherwise be in the way of your lube fully saturating your patch.

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Excellent on-the-point reply!

I've been told it's Cornstarch. If you don't wash it out prior to use...You'll find it more difficult to use liquid lubes. Not impossible...just more difficult. I buy my patch material by the yard and wash it twice in HOT water without fabric softener.

It seems to be a consensus from "the dozen or gross or more" that it is important to wash the sizing from the fabric.

Don Steele said:

I've been told it's Cornstarch. If you don't wash it out prior to use...You'll find it more difficult to use liquid lubes. Not impossible...just more difficult. I buy my patch material by the yard and wash it twice in HOT water without fabric softener.

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As Ed McMahon would say on the old Johnny Carson show, "You are correct, sir!"

I wash it out because it is an unknown variable that may affect performance. It tastes lousy and makes the fabric stiff.

Besides the sizing, some fabrics can also be treated with things like pesticides or anti mold agents to protect the product during storage or shipping.
I'm often a spit patcher, so I don't want any of that in my mouth.

Grenadier1758 said:

It seems to be a consensus from "the dozen or gross or more" that it is important to wash the sizing from the fabric.

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It's an old concensus that goes way back. "Always wash your new patching to remove the sizing from the fabric" was quoted to me back in 1976.

I like to wash in hot water a couple of times, then dry in the drier on high heat. It can tighten the weave just a tad as the fibers contract. Then I check it with the micrometer. It normally mic's-out at a tad thicker, say perhaps .001 to .003 than it did on the roll in the store. So that .015 material might then be .016 or even .018.

LD