How is the best way to laundry a hand quilted Queen size quilt?

I go to the laundromat and use their front-loading washer. It tumbles instead of having an agitator, which tears up the quilt. If you have a large front loader at home, you can use that.

Spin them out thoroughly and then line dry them or just tumble dry if you prefer.

Thanks Cathi, I was concerned about the soap and also the high heat in the dryers - I doo not have a front loader but will go to the laundry mat and line dry ... thanks again for your prompt reply - IrishJan

Synthrapol is a really safe soap to use on a quilt, especially if you are not sure if some of the fabrics might bleed. Many quilt shops carry it now, especially if they cater to quilters who dye fabrics. Any quilt shop is likely to carry a gentle soap suitable for quilts.

I don't know about using commercial laundry products. Although I use liquid fabric softener on all of our laundry, I'm not sure I'd use it when washing a quilt; I know that it can spot some fabrics. Maybe someone else knows?

Anything larger than a twin I take to the laundry mat. My poor old machine can't handle it and it is better for the quilt.

I launder all of my quilts in cold water. And then hang them up in the basement.

Here's another thing I thought of. Since the quilt is hand quilted, you really want to be careful about the weight of the quilt when it is damp out of the washer. It's a good idea not to hang it up to dry, because the weight of the water in the quilt will add a lot of stress to the hand stitches.

What I would do is spread a king-sized sheet on the carpet and lay the quilt on top of that. This way you can also "block" the quilt as it dries -- that is, gently pull the edges straight and flat so the whole quilt lies flat. Put one or more fans on the quilt to speed drying, and flip the quilt every day until it is perfectly dry.

Since it's a queen size I would take it to a laundromat because it would get cleaner. If you can lower the temp a little in their dryers, dry it there or else line dry it.

I don't know why people get the idea that a hand quilted quilt needs special care. The one on our full size bed has been used for around 12 years and I haven't had a thread pop yet and I just toss it into my home washer and dryer....oh it's hand pieced too and has no weak seams. Maybe it's from the memory of those "hand quilted" you buy at department stores that are poorly constructed.

I've washed and dried numerous hand quilted quilts - mostly baby quilts.
One was hand pieced (baby/tumbling blocks) and he would drag it around EVERYWHERE. That poor thing got filthy, plus kids are messy... so it got laundered a LOT.

None have popped stitches, weak seams, or anything else wrong with them. The binding on one is starting to show wear (but it's the one he took everywhere)

The weight of a wet quilt hanging to dry is hard on any of them, regardless of hand or machine quilting. If I hang them outside, I always drape them across all of the four clothes lines. That way the weight is distributed. Wet fibers are weak fibers.

OK, there's my 2 cents on the subject... :-)

Thanks to all of you for thoughts on this. I didl take it to the laundry mat and I did find some soap in a jar made just for quilts and I laid it outside on the grass over a sheet and it dried just beautiful! thank you soooooo much - Happy Spring"