I have almost finished quilting a white backgroud quilt which has become grubby during the course of quilting. (Mostly because of my cat :hunf: )

I am taking this quilt on holidays with me next Friday to give to my bro. I would really like to wash this quilt before I hand it over. No problems there BUT this weekend its raining, for the first time in 8 months!

My plan is to take it to the laundromat, for the bigger washing machine.

My question: would it be safe to put it in a commercial drier?

The fabric and cotton batting have not been prewashed. I do like the antiquey look that washing gives, but will I ruin the quilt by putting it in the dryer? Its a huge king quilt, and I dont want to end up with a single quilt.

When I wash my quilts, I spread them over my kitchen table and turn the ceiling fan on, dryes in a day.

I'd be afraid the commercial dryers would get too hot. Any way you could set up a system to air dry it inside?

Since I don't have a washer and dryer, I get to go to the Sit-in-Spin quite often. What are you afraid of with the dryers? I've never had a problem, but the one I use always has an attendant on duty. I would use the "warm" setting (not hot) and put in the extra money for the longer drying time. You can also put in a few white or light colored towels for a couple of minutes to see if there is something funky in there that you didn't spot to begin with.

Commercial dryers have 3 temp settings. Cool, warm and hot. Yes, hot is hot, but warm is warm enough.
;)

Even commercial dryers have temp controls. The main thing is to pull the quilt out pretty regular and rearrange it so the part that's on the inside of the bundle gets to the outside too.

I would have no problem using the commercial dryer on a lower heat setting. I dry my quilts about half way. I lay the damp quilt on my bed with the ceiling fan on and flip it over when one side starts feeling dry. Then leave it there til it dries completely. Usually takes the whole day.

Thanks for the information. That's good to know. I haven't used commercial dryers so that was one of my concerns.

i made my first quilt in 1976- have made many since then- every single quilt i have made- even the 3 that have taken 'best of show' awards have been thrown into a washer- and then a dryer after i finished the last binding stitch-
even the silk and wool ones-
i ALWAYS wash and dry my quilts- especially the ones i am giving away = expecting the recipient will at some point need to wash and dry it=
if the care instructions are too restrictive chances are it will not be used- because people don't want to A) deal with it, or B) they are afraid to ruin it.

I just recently finished a king sized quilt that I took to the laundramat to wash and dry. I used the lower setting on the dryer and didn't have any problems. Like yours, I hadn't prewashed the fabric and I had to wash it because when I was quilting it my puppy wanted to sit beside me.....