The X Marks Tartan woven in P/V is done for us by Marton Mills. It is the highest quality Polyester/Rayon blend fabric available. It is perfectly safe to machine wash and machine dry.

The dark Blue/Gray color used for the X Marks Tartan is a very hard color to achieve. The yarns are vat dyed and they use A LOT of dye. The fabric after weaving and finishing does have excess dye still on it. Sometimes there is so much dye that it will come off on your hands as you handle the fabric.

We suggest that everyone pre-wash their fabric to remove this excess dye. It will not fade the Tartan, you are just getting rid of the excess.

We suggest a machine washing in cold water with liquid detergent. Use a permanent press or gentle cycle if your machine has one.

The X Marks fabric is Teflon coated. The cold water wash should not remove this coating.

A caution ----- If your fabric is already cut length-wise you may wish to zig-zag or overcast the raw edges to prevent fraying. There will not be much fraying but there will be some long yarns that tend to wrap around the fabric while it is agitating in the machine. This may trap the excess dye in tight folds which defeats the whole purpose of the prewash.

This fabric can be safely machine dried. We suggest a permanent press setting or low heat depending on your machine.

I have actually measured Marton Mills fabrics before and after washing and drying to determine if there is any shrinkage. I can find no appreciable shrinkage.

Wash and dry your X Marks Tartan fabric without fear. It is good stuff.