I was given an antique quilt that had been in box for quite a while. I wanted to hand quilt it but decided it had to hold up being washed before I put all that work into it. So I put it in the washing machine on regular cycle and ivory soap pwdr nad it came out beautiful. Then I layered it with my batt and backing and hand quilted it. It is a Sun Bonnet Sue and I love it. However I am not sure I could recommend doing this with all old quilts.