i also wash my quilts before giving them. I hand quilt and that quilt has been on my frame for 8-10 months - all those months of dust, dirt, cat hair floating around, not to mention,it's been handled by me for all those months. And it does allow me to see how it will be after washing. I give it the once over to make sure no seams have come apart(but any of those have usually been caught during the quilting process)