How do you wash a quilt with a minky backing?
 

I'm not a sewer nor do I have a lot of knowledge but I love quilts and have a growing collection of them and just recently purchased another quilt off of Etsy. It has a cotton quilt top, cotton batting and a minky backing and I reached out to the seller after ordering and they said that they did not prewash any of the fabric nor wash the finished quilt before selling which is frustrating because everything I read says to prewash your cotton if you're putting a minky backing on it since minky doesn't shrink.

How am I supposed to go about washing it? I normally wash all my quilts on cold, sometimes with an extra rinse, and then dry on low. Can minky fabric be dried on low? I see a lot of people saying it needs to be air dried but I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment with no balcony/patio and I'm in Minnesota where it's currently insanely cold along with lots of snow. And how is it going to look when the unwashed cotton top along with the cotton batting shrink? I love, love crinkly quilts but don't know how it'll turn out since minky doesn't shrink.

I've never used the no heat setting on a dryer, is that actually going to dry a wet quilt, along with dry the cotton top? Again, a lot of the stuff i've read said the no heat setting is basically just for using in 5-10 minute increments to fluff something up, not to actually dry wet clothes or bedding that just came out of a washing machine.

Do a Google search on how to wash and dry minky. So many people use it on baby quilts I doubt they are all lined dried. I would wash on gentle, then when it finishes do another spin to get the extra water out because the gentle cycle may not get much out. Then I would dry on low for about 10-15 minutes then air dry. Minky stretches, so if you just line dry it I would be afraid it would really stretch out of shape. Hopefully someone that uses it will respond. I use fleece couple times - didn't like how it stretches - I understand minky is even worse so have avoided it. It also depends on how tightly quilted the blanket is. That keeps it from stretching a lot.

I can't speak specifically how a minky quilt will respond to the no heat cycle, but I use it when I wash my wool afghan and it dries it, but takes quite a while. When it is almost dry, I take my afghan out and lay it flat to finish drying and I am always happy with the results.

Take a deep breath, it will be OK. I make lots of minky backed quilts for family and Children's Hospital. I wash the quilts in regular cycle (warm or hot water), toss in the dryer and dry on regular setting. Recipients at the hospital don't need to be concerned how they do their laundry so I want to be sure I'm giving a quilt that's not particular how it's cared for. I have not had any problems with stretching and rarely any bleeding. I do wash the minky first with a Color Catcher so I suggest tossing one in the washer. Good luck and enjoy your new quilt.

Just throw it in the washer and dryer like you would normally do. I use warm water and medium high heat to dry mine. I have done this for my grandchildren and great grand babies.

I have washed quilts with minky and did not have a problem. Good luck

I like to use minky backing for my quilts, especially for kids and grandkids. I don't usually prewash cotton fabric for the tops but I do wash and dry the quilts before gifting just to be sure nothing comes apart. I wash with warm water and use color catchers. Dry in dryer on medium setting. You should be fine washing yours when needed. Just to add, I do prewash flannels, tops and backs before sewing due to shrinkage. I have never had minky shrink or bleed.