Washing Your Quilt
Washing machine care in a nut shell.
100% Cotton (top and back) 100% Cotton batting
For best results in washing machine. Dissolve quilt soap in cool water. Soak quilt for 5 to 7 minutes. Agitate by hand with up-down motion. Spin to remove soapy water. Fill tub with cold rinse water. Agitate by hand again. Spin to remove rinse water. Repeat rinse cycle.
Dryer - permanent press/cool setting. Remove quilt from dryer after 5 minutes and put back in moving a wet side to outside. Do again. Remove, lay flat on clean surface or sheet, block & use fan to finish drying.
Tip on storage - When not in use, fold differently each time to avoid creases. Store in fabric bag and keep away from light.
Details, Details, and more Details
 | After a quilt is completed, I wash the quilt to remove any remaining markings and release the puffiness and loft of the batting. |
| When it is dirty. If it's a child's quilt, it may need it more often. |
| Caution: Over washed quilts will age quickly. Are you sure its dirty? Will air fluff do? |
| Do not dry clean. |
| Try Dye Magnet if unsure of dyes. |
| Try Sew Clean from Bear Threads Designs or Z'Out for stains, always test with every product. |
For washing, begin by filling the machine tub with cold water. Dissolve a heaping tablespoonful of Orvus soap in one cup of warm water. Add it to the wash tub.
Turn the washing machine OFF. Immerse the quilt in the tub and gently agitate with your hands by pushing up and down in tub. The "washing agitation" of the washer will pull your stitches apart, and age your quilt. Do not soak the quilt for more than 7 minutes. Drain the water from the tub by running the spin cycle (remember never agitate). Fill with cold water and turn the machine off. Hand agitate for the rinse and use the spin cycle to drain the water. I usually rinse twice with cold water.
The process of washing can be very nerve wracking as I worry about fabric bleeding even though I pre-wash fabrics as a rule. In the dyeing process, there are two things required in order to make the dye process successful: The temperature of the water needs to be between 75 and 105 degrees and you must have soda ash to activate the dye. Soda ash is found in most laundry detergents. By limiting the temperature of the water to either cold or very hot it's my opinion that the possibility of bleeding is greatly reduced. Soaking the quilt for a long time should also be avoided because it allows excess dye molecules to migrate through the water and attach themselves to another location (remember dye magnet). Synthrapol, a soak that dyers use to remove excess dye, can be used on a quilt where fabrics have been crocked (soiled with the coloring matter of a badly dyed cloth), but for best results its required to use hot water. Retayne is another fixative that can help to set the dye when you pre-wash.
Block the quilt after it is washed. Blocking allows me to square up the quilt and insures that it will hang perfectly flat for display at a quilt show. Tip: When folding your quilt for transport to a show always make the first folds parallel to the hanging sleeve. When unfolded, the weight of the quilt will help pull out the wrinkle. If folded vertically to the sleeve, the quilt will appear wavy and has no chance of "hanging out".
I place it in a dryer for a few minutes to warm the fibers and to dry it partially. Spread the quilt on a carpeted floor that has been well vacuumed. Using a 4-foot drywall T-square, I begin patting the quilt into square ness. Starting with the corners, making sure that the edge of the quilt meets the edge of the T-square, I work around the edge of the quilt. The binding needs to lay straight and even. Then pat the center of the quilt and smooth it so that it is perfectly flat. It's helpful to place an electric fan near the quilt to blow air over the top accelerating drying time. Leave the quilt on the floor until it is completely dry.
A quilt that has been blocked in this manner seems to have a "memory". The next washing and blocking is much easier.