craftgrrl | prewashing craft felt?

Hi all.

I'm in the process of making fleece scarves as presents for my friends, and plan on applique'ing a small felt design on each.

i'm going to prewash the fleece, but should i also prewash the felt? can i even prewash it?

i'm worried that something will happen to it, as it's craft felt, and also, since i bought a bunch of different colors, i'm afraid the colors will bleed into one another unless i wash each one in a different load (which i guess is feasible since i live in a dorm and everyone has gone home for thanksgiving so there are plenty of machines available...but it's also quite a waste of water and detergent!)