Batting Battles II: Warm and White vs. Polyfil Cotton Classic

Recently I was in Joanns and noticed the packaged batting was 50 percent off.  I needed some batting my for latest project and I happened to have a coupon for an extra 20% off my purchase, so I picked up the 1 brand of cotton batting not sold out: Polyfil Cotton Classic.  You know I had to do a review!  This review is completely sponsored by ME...no company sent me anything for free or gave me any money unfortunately.

Price
Cost for Twin Size Polyfil Cotton Classic(equivalent to 2 yds on the bolt): $19.99
50% off price (which is not all that uncommon at Joann's): $9.99
extra 20% off price: $8.00

The regular price is about $10/yd...slightly cheaper than my regular batting, Warm& Natural or Warm&White.  My sale+coupon price was $4/yard. 


The Polyfil Cotton Classic packaging touts these features:

• HAND OR MACHINE QUILT
• 100% COTTON QUILT BATTING
• FAVORITE SINCE 1979
• GIVES A ANTIQUE LOOK
• SHOULD BE PRE-SOAKED
• BONDED BATTING

I like the organic part.  The pre soaking part?  Well, that is not gonna happen.  Sorry Polyfil...no special treatment for battings around here.  I have 3 little kids that still need help bathing, so I am not about to add "batting" to the list of things I have to wash.

First thoughts- this stuff is very scratchy.  I had to check and make sure it was actually cotton.  It feels a little wooly.  It reminds me of the feel of polyester batting.  Have you ever basted polyester batting while having stitches?  UGHHH...having those little scratchy fibers tear at my stitches turned me off of poly batting for good.  One store selling this batting online says it "clings to the fabric making basting a breeze."  Heads up y'all: that is code for SCRATCHY.

Quilting Distance
Polyfil Cotton Classic 3-5"
Warm and Natural: up to 10"

Luckily I planned on free motion quilting this project pretty tightly.  If you like minimal quilting, this batting might not work for you. It does make me nervous that this batting requires this much quilting for stability.  For this reason, I would probably not choose this batting for a tying or hand quilting project (for the hand quilting I think I would go with the Mountain Mist Cream Rose Cotton batting I have previously reviewed). 

 Warm and White on the Left, Polyfil Cotton Classic on the right.  Polyfil seems *slightly* thinner.

 I pulled both out of square.

I then attempted to "fix" it.  Warm and Natural fared better, but I think the cotton classic performed well, too.

The Look

This quilt crinkled nicely.  It is thin and has a lovely drape.  It was pretty warm as I was doing the binding in my FREEZING living room.

Did someone ask about SHRINKAGE???

Before washing size: 46"x61"
After washing: 44"x58"
Shrinkage is about 4.5 % if my math is correct

If you recall from my first batting battle, Warm and White had almost no shrinkage even with a similar amount of a quilting (more quilting = more shrinkage)

The Verdict

You know how a lot of Bibles have "bonded leather" instead of real leather?  This reminded me of that...like a "bonded batting."  I'd say this is a good batting for hand quilting due to the composition, but I don't know that I'd be up for hand quilting every 3 inches.  That makes me think this is probably better for machine quilting very densely.  I actually liked working with this despite the scratchiness.  I did NOT like the wrinkles from the packaging.  I love buying off the bolt.  I'd definitely use this again, though.   I still prefer Warm&Natural or Warm & White, but this is an ok alternative for densely quilted pieces.  

Have you ever tried this batting?  What did you think of it?  Do you have another favorite or a brand you'd like to see reviewed?  Tell me in the comments!