When we had a church group that was making quilts for the babies born to unwed mothers, we did soak the fabric to get the labels off. sometimes, an impossibl;e task, and then we cut the label off. Our fabric samples had the edges pinked so fraying wasn't an issue. You could simply stitch down all sides with a long machine stitch close to the edge. That would prevent the fraying quite a bit. If you are going to wash them, I would use cold water for sure to help reduce the shrinkage.Good Luck :!: