I am not a pre-washer. I throw in a couple of color catchers and have always had good luck. I have a red, white and blue flag quilt. I know it has been washed before at least twice. It hangs high on the wall in my entry foyer and is hard to get down to wash. Beside you can't see the dust on it up that high. I washed it recently and the red bled onto one of the white fabrics. (there are 6 different whites) I got help from on this board. I rewashed it with ox-clean and it came out fine.