Mary Corbet of needlenthread.com has a very strict regime and always rinses and pre-shrinks her linen; a series of hot, boiling, and cold water baths followed by careful ironing . On the surface it seems like a good idea especially for the things we who stitch Avlea Folk Embroidery table runners and the like. It is pretty well a given that linen will shrink when it is washed. I would like to know other's opinions on this. It does seem to be a bit of a process, but pales to the time we put into the actual stitching.
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I love Mary Corbet's work, but I have been embroidering for years and don't pre-wash linen and absolutely do not pre-wash the Traditional Groundcloth. I've never had any issues with either, however if I were doing a design with beads I would wash and iron before adding the beads because afterwards I cannot get a nice, smooth finish.
For linen, I don't pre-wash my linen and I've never had any issues once the piece is finished (I typically wash by hand once a piece is completed and in use in my home). For the Traditional Groundcloth, I never pre-wash because it's designed to develop a specific texture with the agitation of washing (this is intentional and mimics the handwoven fabrics used for folk costumes). This texture can make it difficult to see the threads, so that's why I don't pre-wash. Hope that helps!