I am an obsessive pre-washer. I make scrap quilts and find a lot of fabrics at estate sales. I separate lights, darks and reds, and wash everything separately in a gentle cycle. Most fabrics are smaller than a fat quarter and some as small as a 2 inch squares. It can still be a tangled mess, but I deal with it. Fabrics are dried in the dryer. The small pieces can get stuck on the air return vent in the dryer, so I add a few dry hand towels to the load which prevents them from sticking.