:lol: Here is where you can tell I am a guy. :lol:
I never pre wash my batting or fabric (almost always use the 80/20 cotton) starch like crazy and only after I am finished do I wash the quilt.
I wash on warm using the regular Tide that I use on my laundry, wash it on the bulky bedding setting. Then I throw it in the drier with a drier sheet and I dry it on the Bulky bedding setting which is high heat. :lol:
I do have the latest (within the year) top of the line Kenmore HE front loaders, so I dont know if that has anything to do with the finished product or not but I figure warm water is warm water LOL.
Now it shrinks like crazy but it has the most wonderful vintage look and feel to it and compliments the fact that it was sewn on a nearly 100yo machine.
I take into consideration the shrinkage when I make the quilt so that once it is washed it will be within 1/2" of what the projected finish size needs to be. And the formula changes as the quilt grows and the type of batting I use.
Billy