Mornin', everyone.
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For the first time I have used wool batting instead of the 80/20 cotton/poly blend. The quilting is quite dense, more dense than I wanted/expected, but the lady who did the quilting did a truly awesome job and it is gorgeous. Anyhow, because the quilting is so dense, the quilt is very stiff. It would be beautiful hanging on a wall, but is a gift for my 25 y/o daughter for her bed.
In the past I have washed and dried my quilts in the dryer because I like the resulting softer look and feel. However, the washing instructions that came with the wool batting indicate it should be dried flat, not in the clothes dryer, due to possible shrinkage.
My LQS friend told me she always uses wool batting in her quilts and washes and dries them by machine, no problem. (I didn't buy my wool batting from her store, so the batting in my quilt could very well be a different brand of wool batting, not sure if that would matter.)
So I'm wondering: do I dare throw it in the washer/dryer in an effort to soften it up? Because it is quilted so densely (I'm talking about barely an inch between quilting lines) would it shrink significantly anyway? Would washing/drying even make it appreciably softer, given the dense quilting?
On a side note, I slept under the quilt last night (gotta try these things out, right?) and it is much warmer than my other quilts. Also love how the quilting lines make the top puffy, almost like miniature trapunto. Overall I like the wool, aside from the issue of how to care for it.
Thanks for reading! I appreciate your feedback.