[QUOTE=silliness;7222704]I never measure mine. But I haven't had the occasion to need to be that precise yet. If i was making a quilt for a bed, I probably would.
I usually wash my charity quilts before turning them in. When I do wash them, I wash them on cold or warm water with no detergent and use an unscented dryer sheet. There is no need for detergent because the detergent starts the process of breaking down the fibers much faster. For example, bath towels need no detergent added to the load. They already have soap on them from your body. Just wash them in hot water and you are good to go. The lifespan of your bath towels is much shorter if you use detergent on them because it wears down the fibers much faster.
After an incident last year, I learned that I am allergic to almost every laundry detergent so I make my own. The ladies in my charity group wash all their fabrics and quilts in this perfumed laundry detergent like Tide, All, Cheer etc. and follow it up with heavily perfumed dryer sheets like bounce or snuggle. It is like smoking, you don't notice how much fragrance is in it until you stop using it. LOL. Sometimes it smells up the entire room. If I were a parent of a terminally ill child and they received a quilt that additionally breaks them out in hives due to fragrance, formaldehyde, or other chemicals from the detergent and dryer sheets I would be really mad. Their immune system is so low already, stuff like that can set them off. So I think that is worse than not washing at all. Fortunately, the head of my group mentioned that she washes the quilts before she distributes them out. Especially, if they have any scent at all. So in the situation of the above quilter who mentioned she doesn't wash her charity quilts, it may not matter.
I have also read elsewhere that the perfume smells from fabric conditioner etc are in fact toxins and was going to be knocking this off the shopping list. Till now I've been guilty of using this to excess. I hadn't thought of the impact on those with low immune systems. Thank you for the prod.
I some times wash quilts before I give them away but if I'm not planning on washing a quilt I wear a fresh pair of gloves for handling the fabric, esp where there is white fabrics involved.