Originally Posted by
NJ Quilter
I would think washing - after quilting - will be fine. Even if it's just a soak in the tub with some dish soap to get rid of the oils on your hands after quilting and freshen them up a bit. You could then roll in some towels to get rid of excess water, lay on a sheet on the floor to dry.
And very good of you to finish up these quilts for this person's family.
I discovered a very, very old quilt that I think had been used as packing material. It was a wedding gift to my grandmother in the 1800's! Needless to say, it needed "freshening". I used my washer as the tub to wash it--used enough water and non-sudsing detergent to clean it, pressed it up and down in that and then let it soak awhile. Let the washer spin the water out of it--a lot easier than doing it by hand and more complete. Then rinse the same way. Even if pencil marks don't come out, that's the way those quilts of the era remain. Don't worry about it.