I have quilts that my grandmother made many, many years ago, and I know she used poly batting. I've never had a one wear more than a quilt that had cotton batting. In fact, there are NO wear spots anywhere on any of the quilts she made. My grandmother died in March of 1993. I use a very good quality of poly batting for my quilts because (1) It doesn't shrink, and poly batting weighs far less than cotton batting, and (2) poly batting is far more washable than cotton. I have a very old quilt that was my aunt's (on my husband's side of the family), it has cotton batting, and it's a tied quilt. The batting suffers greatly from substantial shrinkage. This old quilt (a friendship quilt) for my aunt, desperately needs laundering. I'm not sure how the quilt could be laundered by machine without sustaining damage, and I am not physically able to wash it by hand