I wash all my cotton fabric with ordinary detergent in the washing machine at 40 degrees, and again when the quilt is finished. The only exception might be if it is to be a wallhanging that is machine quilted, so I am not handling it so much. I hate the thought of giving someone a quilt that is full of chemicals, especially a child's quilt. I do think five times seems a bit over the top. PS: I wash all the fabrics together, but I will pre-wash the darkest ones separately first so that any excess dye is removed. So far I have been lucky and not had any disasters.