I have a large quilt that is getting rather grubby and could do with a wash but I'm not sure of the best way to do this? Some suggestions would be most helpful. Please!

I wash mine in the machine, on cold, and dry in dryer on low. Have always done it this way, no problems

Since you live in Australia, I am not familar with your products. Do you have gentle detergents that you use on baby clothes? I would use something like that and check to see if it comes clean...you may need to wash it twice as these are gentle to the fabric but sometimes not as effective on the "gungys" :wink:

Did you prewash your fabrics? If so, you could use the same laundry detergent as then. :D

and you should take into consideration was it tied, quilted close, or really far apart? and what kind of batting is in it.

I wash mine on cold and dry on gentle. Works fine for my quilts.

:lol: Here is where you can tell I am a guy. :lol:

I never pre wash my batting or fabric (almost always use the 80/20 cotton) starch like crazy and only after I am finished do I wash the quilt.

I wash on warm using the regular Tide that I use on my laundry, wash it on the bulky bedding setting. Then I throw it in the drier with a drier sheet and I dry it on the Bulky bedding setting which is high heat. :lol:

I do have the latest (within the year) top of the line Kenmore HE front loaders, so I dont know if that has anything to do with the finished product or not but I figure warm water is warm water LOL.

Now it shrinks like crazy but it has the most wonderful vintage look and feel to it and compliments the fact that it was sewn on a nearly 100yo machine.

I take into consideration the shrinkage when I make the quilt so that once it is washed it will be within 1/2" of what the projected finish size needs to be. And the formula changes as the quilt grows and the type of batting I use.

Billy

If you have used starch or retayne or anything like that on your fabrics, I would wash it in warm water with a good laundry detergent. If you didn't add any chemicals to it, you can just wash in cold water with a small amount of detergent. (or even without it, if the quilt isn't really dirty.)

Even if you didn't add starch or anything like that...

If it's a baby or child's quilt and you didn't prewash the fabrics, wash it at least once and maybe twice in warm water and regular detergent, to remove all the finishing agents, excess dye, etc. Those things are so toxic to little children.

And agitate very little. soaking will take most dirt out and is much easier on quilts. rinse and soak and rinse again.

There are several considerations. If this is the first time the quilt is being washed, I highly recommend using Synthrapol. Synthrapol suspends any unset dye particles in the water so they are washed away instead of settling into other fabrics.

A front-loading washing machine is fine. If you have a top-loader, it's best to stop the machine so the quilt does not go through the agitation cycle. Instead, hand agitate by pushing down on the quilt through the wash water. When done, advance to spinning. For rinsing, again do not allow machine agitation but instead hand agitate before spinning. Spinning is not hard on the quilt, but the agitators in top-loading washing machines are very hard on a quilt. Also, unless this quilt has been washed several times before and you are sure no colors will bleed, I recommend not allowing the quilt to soak. If there are any bleeding dyes, soaking can allow unwanted dye to settle in another fabric.

If the quilt is very large, you may want to take it to a laundromat. Here in the U.S., laundromats usually have at least one front-loading washer and their dryers are very large. Do not stuff a quilt into a home dryer if it is a tight fit; you can actually burn the quilt (not to mention damaging the dryer).

An alternative to machine drying the quilt is to lay it out on a large sheet. "Block" it (straighten edges and pin down to stay) and let a fna blow air over it if you are doing this inside. This probably works best if you have first been able to machine dry it to a damp stage and are able to pin it to carpeting. You would want to turn the quilt over periodically too. If you let the quilt dry on a sheet outside, *be sure* to cover the quilt with one or two sheets to prevent sunlight from fading the fabrics. It also prevents birds from decorating the quilt.

Never hang a wet quilt over clotheslines. The weight of the water in the quilt puts a lot of stress on the quilting lines and the fabrics. Drying flat on the ground is much better for the quilt.

I wash my quilts by letting them soak in warm water and any detergent in the machine, agitate a few minutes, let it spin and fill with rinse water and rinse and spin as usual. I dry them on low turning them several times, I lay them overnite on my glass topped dining room table. I use polyester batting and none of my fabrics have ever dyed on each other, no matter how dark, I mainly use Wal Mart fabrics. I wash all my quilts when I finish them. The ones we use I only wash before changing to another one. I only put them away clean. Don't wash too often. This works great for me. Merry Christmas !!!