Washing Quilts

[jimmie w.]

How many of you wash your quilts? When you are finished with your quilts - do you block them? After they have been washed and dried, do they hang straight? If you sell or give away any quilts, do you advise them not to wash? I made a baby quilt and washed it - some of the blocks in it did not lay flat after being washed and dried. I was just wondering what other people do about washing their quilts.

[jimmie w.]

If you intend for the quilts to be used, then you can assume that they will need to be washed. This is especially true if for baby quilts. If well constructed of good quality materials, a quilt should withstand many years of daily use and regular careful laundering. However, nothing will last forever. When the quilt gets too fragile for daily use, then that's the time to consider using it as a wallhanging.

My greatgrandmother made a quilt for me and gave it to me as a wedding present. She made me promise to use it and so I did. After about 20 years, I felt that it was getting too fragile to continue using, so I plan to replicate it.

Quilts are like any other gift that you may give. Once you give a quilt away, you can only hope that it will get the love and care that you would want. Unfortunately, giving care instructions to the recipient is no guarantee. Some of the baby quilts that I've given away were regularly bleached with the rest of the laundry. If you are going to lose sleep over it, then don't put too much time, money and effort in making quilts to be given away.

[Gloria H.]

Most of the time my quilts are given away to be used. By the time I've finished with them they have had a lot of handling and I would be uncomfortable not washing them. If I make a wall hanging, I don't wash because I'm more likely to have added embellishments to those.

[Gloria H.]

I don't consider it a quilt until I have washed it. If it makes it thru the wash--it is good to go. If it is intended to be used as a wall quilt--I still wash it. If it has glass beads on it I wash it before beading.

[Margo C.]

I make quilts to be used and loved to death! I always wash and dry them IN THE DRYER before I gift them so that when they go to their new homes there are no surprises when they get laundered there. If I make a quilt to hang in a show before it is given to someone, I will wash it on the gentle cycle and dry it (block it) flat on the floor, carefully checking to make sure that it is flat and square so that it will hang correctly. My quilts don't have embellishments because my DH says that "quilts shouldn't rattle"! :lol:

[Lynn K.]

I make quilts to be used and loved to death! I always wash and dry them IN THE DRYER before I gift them so that when they go to their new homes there are no surprises when they get laundered there. If I make a quilt to hang in a show before it is given to someone, I will wash it on the gentle cycle and dry it (block it) flat on the floor, carefully checking to make sure that it is flat and square so that it will hang correctly. My quilts don't have embellishments because my DH says that "quilts shouldn't rattle"! :lol:

I'm with Margo. I make mine to use and use and use. Course the one I made for my daughter in grade school (who is now 37) is back in my bin for repair - BIG repair!

[Lynn K.]

I'm with Margo and Lynn, the quilts I make are what my nephew calls "drag around quilts". Those quilts are loved. I wash them when I finish making them. I've never blocked them but they will never be hanging on display anywhere.

When my neighbor learned that I'm a quilter she proudly showed me the quilts made for her son when he was born. They were all packed away and he has never even touched them, he's ten now. I didn't ask her what she was saving them for.

JoAnne in southern California

[Judy M.]

I've made quilts for 7 of my 9 grandchildren (I'm working on the two newest ones!) and I've hand appliqued, hand embroidered and hand quilted all of them. They have been loved so dearly and the fabric is getting a little faded from the use and washing, but I don't regret even ONE minute of all that work! I always wash and dry my fabric first and when the binding is finished, I wash the quilt in the washer on delicate cycle and dry it on the delicate cycle. I even follow the same process for all my quilts. I haven't had any problems with them changing shape or not hanging properly after washing. One thing to be careful of is to make sure the quilting is done evenly all over the quilt. That might make a difference. Judy in Torrance

[Judy M.]

Ok, I have a unique quilt washing problem maybe one of you all could help me solve. I have two quilts that I had sitting in my work room - one is finished but the other was in the process of being machine quilted (1/2 done) so it does not have a binding. My poor kitty, Spooky, has been fighting with fall allergies which are causing her to shed unusually bad. (poor thing has a bald patch around her tail and under her chin :cry: ) This is causing a double problem of lots of cat hair AND she has been fighting with hairball problems. Well, last night I forgot to cover the two quilts. She not only slept on them but she warfed a hairball on them!!! I know I can just wash the one, I don't think it will hurt it, but the unfinished one I really don't know what to do. If I throw it in the washer the basting will all come out!!! What do I do!! :shock:

[Judy M.]

First use tape to gently get most of the cat fur off. Then wash by hand that section that needs to be cleaned and hang to dry. After the quilt is dry you should be able to finish quilting and binding so it can then be washed. Bobbi

[Gloria H.]

Poor Spooky. I'm sorry, Mandy, but I had to laugh (much easier if you are not on the receiving end). I'm with Bobbi on getting it clean. Good luck. Gloria

[Lynn K.]

Oh, yes, those kitty hair balls are nice, aren't they? Since I'm doing the allergy thing too, I sympathize with the kitty.

Yep, hand wash that part.......good luck!

[Lynn K.]

Another idea might be to go ahead and put the binding on. If most of your quilting is done, it won't matter if you do more quilting after the binding is on.

I usually will prewash the fabric when it's going in a baby quilt and don't worry about washing it once it's done, unless there are marks that I want to remove.

I always include washing instructions right on the label that I attach to the quilt. I usually make a point of telling the recipient also, that it is "perfectly washable and will only soften and fade a bit". My label will say something like "wash gently in warm and fluff dry". Hopefully, this reminds the owner not to bleach and use especially hot water and dryer.

I had to laugh when I recently visited my mom. I had made her a set of pretty placemats last Christmas that are that clever technique with the 60 degree angles that miter a striped fabric. She was using them backwards because she especially liked the backing fabric I had used. All that work for nothing!! HA HA!

Nancy in NY

[Judy M.]

Try using one of those rolling lint things to pick up the cat hair. I use one of those on my ironing board after I iron fabric and patchwork to remove the loose threads. Judy in Torrance

[Judy M.]

One of my favorite parts of the entire quilting process is the washing step. I just love how they come out of the drier all crinkly and soft. I haven't tried blocking any quilts, but it might be a good idea for my next one.