When ever I purchase older fabrics from an estate or (house) sale of any kind first thing I do when I get it home is toss it into the washing machine before it gets any further into my house (you never know what conditions it may have been in) so, it's washed, dried in a regular dryer setting, ironed, folded and put on the fabric shelves. Sometimes it is set aside if I have a special idea/plan for it and don't want to (lose it on the shelves)...it is always laundered first though