Reasons to NOT wash vintage/antique quilts:
1. AQS certified appraisers say it will downwardly affect the appraisal value.
2. Many "old" fabrics will begin to disintegrate when wet, either from undetected dry rot or from the 'rust' of iron mordant dyes.
3. Fading may be more noticeable after washing.
4. Bleeding of the colors is possible in older fabrics.
5. If the quilt has never been washed, shrinking may be sporadic and affect the design and flatness of the quilt.
Reasons FOR washing a vintage/antique quilt:
1. Who knows where this quilt has been!
2. There may be molds, pollens, animal danders on the quilt that will affect the new owner.
3. Some stains left on a quilt surface will cause damage to fabrics.
4. You don't plan to use the quilt for it's museum/monetary value.
5. You will be placing the quilt on your bed or other furniture -- see #1.
6. Your baby/toddler will claim it as his own -- see #1.
7. You plan to share it with your guild which has many members -- see #2. (My guild, for instance, has a strict no perfume/scents/odors policy)
8. You don't know the 'real' value of the quilt and don't plan to pay for an appraisal ever.
I generally wash, for all the above reasons, but collect only quilts that have been 'loved' and have 'history'. I don't expect to ever have another museum quality quilt that I have to protect with such care I can hardly enjoy it. (other than my family quilt from ca. 1780 that is now in the textile museum in Colonial Williamsburg.)
Jan in VA
Last edited by Jan in VA; 05-26-2012 at 07:34 AM.