I've washed 6 yard pieces of fabric as well as larger ones in my washing machine with no problems. It's like washing sheets. I do, however, clip a 1/4" to 1/2" piece off the corner of each side of the fabric as I find it decreases the amount of strings that can come off the fabric and reduces raveling. If you don't have a full wash load, toss in a couple of towels, tablecloths or whatever to help with agitation of the wash load.