Sue Sew -
I actually am hard on my quilts when washing, warm water and straight into the dryer. Thus far, most of my quilts are gifted where they won't have the luxury of gentle washing (family members in the marines, airforce and national guard). So while the pre-washing fads material a bit, it is nice to get any uneven shrinking out of the way. I find the poly battings don't result in so much wrinkling if you don't like wrinkles.