When ever I consider using a piece of fabric that has "aged" I wash it the way I would wash the finished piece. If it can not "stand -up" to a typical wash for what I am making , I do not want to use it. Thats just my rule of thumb. The last thing I want is to put time into a project only to find out after that the fabric had deteriated and would not hold up in a wash cycle. I'm so not a fan of having to remember what projects to wash differnet from the others( some put care instructions on the back) but I am a cold wash, tumble dry kinda of gal.