Hi Kelly - sorry you're having this problem. I was lucky in that I decided to pre-wash everything within a few months after I started quilting, so washing my existing stash was easy - I had very little. If I had to do it now it would be a huge problem. When I'm washing new yardage I usually just set the washer on gentle cycle and let it go, then partially dry in the dryer. I'm not overly concerned about the strings and either cut or rip them off. I have found that most of the raveling occurs in the agitate cycle of the washer, so if I'm washing smaller pieces I set the washer for the soak cycle only, with the lid up so it won't agitate, and then when it has soaked long enough I send it directly to spin. I repeat the soak/spin once more to rinse the detergent out of the fabric. That seems to eliminate most of the tangled threads. If I'm going to iron it within a day or two I dump the fabric into a basket, loosely stacked so the air can get through it, or if it's larger pieces I either put it in the dryer or lay it out on the balcony railing to dry.