All of my quilts are washed before they leave my house. I work with very small scraps given to me by a professional seamstress and they are too small to be washed before I sew with them. And I starch the scraps when I iron them. I also use spray basting, so I have a triple whammy in my quilts. I wash my finished quilts with color catcher sheets to make sure that the fabrics don't run, the spray baste comes out, and the starch comes out. Also, I like the crinkly look of washed quilts.