I wash and dry all my dog quilts by machine... I have three dogs so that is very often! I use either Warm and Natural or poly battings for my dog and couch quilts that get very frequent launderings. My "good" or heirloom type quilts get 100% cotton batting and get hand or machine quilted. They go into the washer and dryer as soon as they are finished so the batting will shrink to get the vintage look and it makes them so cuddly. Those get quilted no farther apart than two inches, and seldom get washed. My dog quilts wear on the outside long before they wear on the inside. I don't think any 100% cotton batting should be tied as opposed to closely quilted. Its not the fault of the manufacture or the dog. IMHO, one can't beat Warm and Natural for pet or baby quilts. Hope this helps.

Every week washing is pretty hard on even clothing.

I definitely wouldn't bother the manufacturer with this issue.

I agree with all the people who have noted that this type of batt needs close quilting and that tying will not hold it together - it's got a lot of room between ties to just about disintegrate, even under normal conditions.

But 250 launderings! Good grief! I can't imagine any batt looking good with that many washings. Hope you're able to fix it back up. :)

I wash my quilts all the time...3 cats and 2 dogs that visit often...I have never had this issue. I use Warm and Natural and FMG it fairly close.

Wow, what an interesting post. I know I learned a lot from it. Now I am worried about the quilts I made for my grandchildren. They were made with 100% cotton and though they were quilted closely, the kids were diagnosed with allergies. Now, their quilts are getting washed weekly, hot water, on an allergen/sterilize cycle (the new front loaders). I hope the tumbling rather than agitating is kinder to them.

Dog? Maybe the pet had something on it's skin or a pet wash that interacted with the quilt? Maybe the drool had enzymes from eating that go into the quilt? Even a few drops of urine might interfere with the quilt?

Wow, never seen anything like this!

I have made some quilts for "Quilts for Kids" and they get washed all the time in hot commercial washers at the hospitals to remain clean and sanitary for the sick children. They require cotton batting, lots of quilting, and a machine applied binding (no hand stitching). The quilts made to their specifications are sturdy and handle the stress just fine, I think the key is to quilt closely. I keep the W&N batt I use at 2-4 inches apart. I know they say you can go wider, but I want mine to stay very stable with lots of washing.

I do think heirloom quilts may need to be handled differently, but I want my quilts to be used and washed.

pam

Anybody ever tried fleece for batting? What's the life of a quilt using that?