How to prep bamboo fleece before sewing cloth pads

When you get bamboo fleece or bamboo terry fabric, it needs to be pre-shrunk before you sew with it.

Bamboo fleece continues to shrink after two or three washes, so if you skip pre-washing, your final pad can look wrinkly or uneven after the first wash.

To prevent that, wash and dry the fabric on hot three to five times before sewing.

I like to use bamboo terry from Nature’s Fabrics because the loops haven’t been brushed out, which makes it easier to prep with less lint. The fleece version, where the loops have been brushed out for softness, creates more lint in the washer and dryer and seems to lose a bit of weight in the process.

Both versions are beautiful fabrics, but bamboo terry is less messy when prepping.

If you want to see how much the fabric is shrinking each time, measure four inches, make a small snip, and remeasure after each wash. When the length stays the same, it’s ready to sew.