I plan to do a tie quilt from my father's ties. I put them in my washing machine with my regular detergent and washed them on gentle. After they had spun, I took the giant ball of tangled ties out to separate them for hanging. Any that didn't survive the abuse, I discarded. I hung them on the outside clothesline to dry and then brought them in to a storeage bin. I'm not quite ready to use them.