Wash quilt before taking to shop to sell?
 

Hi,

I have an opportunity to hang a quilt in a local shop (hopefully to sell) and want to know whether or not to wash it before taking it to the shop?

If it's going to hang, it will still be "stiff" if it's not washed.

Appreciate your feedback.

I would wash it. My concern would be: after washing, the quilt will likely shrink a little and get soft and crinkly, and a non-quilty buyer might see this as a flaw and return it. So in my opinion, it's best to present it as it should look for the rest of its life.

I have to agree. If you were just selling the pattern, unwashed would be okay.

I agree. If the quilt is actually for sale, I'd wash it. Better to catch a problem before it is sold.

You are going to get both views here as you have already seen. My thoughts are that some people think they are buying a "used" product if it is washed. Ask your quilt shop which they think is best for their customer base.

I would wash also - good luck with selling your quilt!

Other than art quilts, I wash every quilt when finished, even the samples I made for the local quilt shop. I believe that a potential buyer would be more attracted to its cozy softness.

I did not wash the fabric before piecing etc so.... better test wash fabric rem. to see and go from there. Thank you all for your feedback.

My thoughts exactly!

I don't hang my quilts in quilt shops. I do wash all my quilts as soon as I finish sewing on the binding. I do sometimes forget to tell the reciever it is clean. I would not give away anything the was dirty. I also wash in case I have used a marking pen.

I never washed my quilts before selling them. I liked that clean fresh sharp look you get from unwashed fabric. Good luck with selling. Now a days, it seems like everyone is looking for a bargain......

I would wash it. I learned my lesson just recently. I donated a quilt to a local group for fund raising. It was being hung for display and someone noticed a rosy smudge' on the flannel backing and thank goodness it was called to my attention so I could fix it. I had washed the quilt and one small red triangle right in the middle of the quilt bled..........it was the only one. (This was a scrap quilt.) I brought it home, took out the block that had the problem and put in a new one. But the rosy smudge was still on the yellow flannel backing. I tried several things and couldn't get it out. It was just about exactly in the center of the backing, so I got one of my orphan blocks and sewed it on.
I was really grateful to the person who noticed it and told me about it so I could fix it. It will be raffled this Saturday.