I backtack and then snip close with my little curved pair of scissors. Burying the threads does look a little bit neater (I think), so for the one (and so far only) quilt I made specifically to be entered into a fair I did go through the extra effort to bury the threads. But most of the time I just snip. So far no problems with anything coming loose, and a couple of my quilts have been machine washed on a monthly basis.