Originally Posted by
ghostrider
Fabrics were dyed with acid dye in your (our) mother's day and vinegar did work at that time. Today's fabrics are dyed with fiber-reactive dyes and vinegar has absolutely no effect at all on them. Neither does salt. It is chemically impossible for them to work. Sorry.
It's true that vinegar (or salt) no longer works on the colors in fabric. However, if you want to make sure a quilt is washed clean of soap (soap attracts dust/dirt, and makes the quilt get dirtier faster) add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse water. Also, you aren't supposed to use fabric softener on a quilt for the same reason; it attracts dust/dirt etc. But the vinegar will act as a natural fabric softener. If I'm washing a quilt, I will often do 1 rinse with vinegar, and then another with just water. Probably overkill, but it helps here in the desert with all the dust around.